Barra celebrates Cruise AV, renovated HQ space with employees

January 17, 2018 12:00 AM

Philip Nussel

GM CEO Mary Barra, during a short afternoon event, thanked employees for their work last year and on recent projects such as the Cruise AV and the redesigned 2019 Silverado

DETROIT -- General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Wednesday celebrated the completed renovation of a space at its world headquarters with employees by publicly showing the company's newest self-driving vehicle for the first time.

The Cruise AV, which has no manual controls such as a steering wheel or pedals, was installed Wednesday in the "GM World" center courtyard, which the company has been renovating for several months. It's expected to be on display until Friday.

Barra, during a short afternoon event, thanked employees for their work last year and on recent projects such as the car and redesigned 2019 Silverado, which was unveiled Saturday for the Detroit auto show.

JOE WILSSENS

GM showed off the Cruise AV to employees in January at the automaker's headquarters.

"We should be very proud," she told the hundreds, if not thousands, lined up along several stories of the Detroit landmark. "This journey we're on is so important."

The Cruise AV is the next step in GM's "triple zero" vision of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion -- an overarching goal for the company that Barra announced in 2017.

GM announced the fourth-gen Cruise AV last week in conjunction with a petition filed with NHTSA, the nation's top auto safety regulator, for permission to work around certain federal vehicle standards in order to launch the vehicles without manual controls in public ride-hailing services in 2019.

GM is testing self-driving vehicles in Arizona, California and Michigan. It is expected to expand to New York City in 2018.

The self-driving vehicle, developed with GM subsidiary Cruise Automation, is based on GM's battery-powered Chevrolet Bolt EV.