Auto Maker Could Have First Wireless System Available in Some Models by 2016
DETROIT— General Motors Co. GM -0.14% plans to install vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems on some products in two years, part of a broad push by regulators and auto makers to introduce technology that can prevent collisions without human intervention.
GM Chief Executive Mary Barra is expected to announce the auto maker's move toward so-called V2V technology on Sunday at a conference in Detroit, people familiar with the matter said. The auto giant's strategy is one example of how car companies are seizing on advances in computing power, cheaper machine vision technology and better software to automate more aspects of daily driving.
Delphi Automotive LLP, a U.S. auto-technology supplier once owned by GM, said on Friday it has an agreement to supply hardware for V2V communications systems for a major auto maker's North American models by 2016, but didn't identify the customer.
GM's decision to push ahead with V2V technology comes after months of controversy over its decadelong failure to recall vehicles with a potentially deadly safety defect. Ms. Barra has responded to that crisis by vowing that GM will make vehicle safety central to its business.
"We are past the tipping point," Delphi Chief Technology Officer Jeff Owens said on Friday. "Everybody's making moves" to bulk up vehicle safety.
A group of auto makers and suppliers, including GM, Ford Motor Co. F -0.75% , Toyota Motor Corp. 7203.TO +0.46% , Honda Motor Co. 7267.TO -0.01% and Nissan Motor Co.7201.TO -0.29% are funding an expanded transportation research effort at the University of Michigan. The program aims to put 9,000 vehicles equipped with V2V technology on the road in Ann Arbor, Mich., the university said on Friday.
Cars that use radar sensors and cameras to detect other cars or objects and warn drivers are increasingly common. Vehicle-to-vehicle communications technology could go a step further, and warn drivers of potential collisions with cars they or their bumper-mounted cameras and radars can't see.
The Troy, Mich., company said the agreement signals some auto makers want to move ahead of a potential government mandate requiring that all vehicles sold in the U.S. be capable of communicating their position as part of a system programmed to prevent collisions.
The U.S. Department of Transportation last month said it is considering adopting a rule by 2016 requiring such vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems in the future.
"We are very bullish on the technology that is emerging in the auto industry," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in an interview on Friday. Mr. Foxx will join acting National Highway Traffic Safety Administration administrator David Friedman at the technology conference in Detroit where Ms. Barra will outline GM's plans.
Wide adoption of vehicle-to-vehicle locator systems could advance the industry's progress toward automating larger chunks of the daily commute, although many auto industry executives caution that fully autonomous driving in all conditions remains years away.
Mr. Friedman said auto makers don't necessarily have to wait for regulation to offer emerging autonomous driving systems that enable automatic braking or hands-free driving in certain circumstances, such as traffic jams.
"It is common to bring new technology well before we regulate them," he said. NHTSA will look at whether such systems improve safety, Mr. Friedman said.
Auto makers so far have tended to introduce advanced safety features, such as automatic braking or cameras that alert drivers to cars in blind spots, as options on expensive models.
One way in which the NHTSA could respond is with new rules designed to push such technology into more cars. NHTSA is aiming to decide within about six months whether to require automatic braking systems, Mr. Friedman said.
Car makers have resisted mandated safety technology in the past, worried that customers won't accept the higher costs of vehicles. But competitive and regulatory pressures are changing that.
In Europe, a consortium of auto makers has agreed to start rolling out by 2015 cars capable of communicating with each other, or with transmitters embedded along the highway. European crash test standards already are pushing car makers to equip vehicles with automatic braking systems, and by 2016 will reward them for installing systems that can detect pedestrians and brake to avoid injuries, IHS Inc. IHS -0.26%senior analyst Jeremy Carlson said.
"Consumers are expecting more and more out of the vehicle to help keep them safe," said Mike VanNieuwkuyk, executive director, global automotive at market researcher J.D. Power and Associates.
Toyota officials said this week they plan to offer an array of crash avoidance technology across all of its Toyota and Lexus models by 2017, including automatic braking systems the company currently offers mainly on its luxury Lexus models.
Toyota will be chasing rivals, including Ford and Korea's Hyundai Motor Co.005380.SE -1.81% , that are already offering automatic braking systems in mass market models for the U.S.
"Rapidly emerging technology will have a profound effect on the industry," Bill Fay, head of the Toyota brand in the U.S., said during a briefing this week on the company's technology plans.
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