For Karl-Thomas Neumann, chief executive officer of the Opel Group, there is no room for doubt: autonomous driving and electric vehicles are more than just buzzwords or passing fads. They represent a future that is arriving faster than many in the industry realize.
“I am sure that the autonomous vehicle will come—and it will come even faster than some people think,” he says. “We are not all that far away from autonomous driving in everyday life. According to even the most conservative forecasts, in 15 years the penetration of autonomous vehicles will be at 15 to 20 percent.”
“In 2030, we could see cars that don’t even have steering wheels anymore. The automotive industry is in the midst of the biggest transformation in its history.”
In 2016, Opel’s parent company, General Motors, established a separate business unit for autonomous vehicle development and acquired Cruise Automation, a software company that specializes in self-driving vehicle technology. Opel also launched the Ampera-e electric car, which with a range of over 400 kilometers promises to eradicate range anxiety once and for all
