UPDATE: Rick's just driven out in a Chevy Volt. No clue what it's got under the hood, but it looked to be running under it's own power. Who knew?
UPDATE #2: Provoq concept revealed live — picture after the jump.
We'll have more to come soon, but for the moment — here's the embargoed printed text of "Slick" Rick Wagoner's keynote here at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. Funniest part of the speech has got to be the title of the speech itself:
Electric Avenue
The Convergence of Electronic and Automotive Technologies
We'll let Rick Wagoner take it higher after the jump.
Remarks by Rick Wagoner
General Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
to the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show
The Venetian
Las Vegas, Nevada• Thank you, Gary [Shapiro], for your very kind introduction.
• As Gary said, GM is the first automaker in 41 years to host a keynote presentation at CES... let me tell you, this is a terrific honor for us.
• At GM, we have a long history of automotive firsts... from the electric starter and automatic transmission... to the catalytic converter and OnStar... to the spectacular concept car that just delivered me onstage... the Chevy Volt!
• Those of you who know the Volt - which GM introduced in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show almost exactly one year ago - know that it's a lot more than just a great looking car.
• The Volt is a powerful example of beauty and brains... because as good as it looks on the outside, it's the technology under the hood that's truly revolutionary.
• We're now over a year into our production engineering for the Volt... and we're moving as fast as we can to bring it to market.
• You may have seen the Volt chassis at the GM display in the Grand Lobby of the Convention Center the past two days. The car you see onstage will join that Chassis starting tomorrow... so, please stop by and take a closer look.
• I'll have a lot more to say about the Volt... especially the technology that drives it... later in my presentation.
• For now, let me just say that we at GM are excited about being the first automaker to take the stage at the world's biggest and most impressive technology conference.
• Let me tell you why we're here.
• The electronics industry has undergone unbelievable change since Lee DeForest started it all with the invention of the first electronic amplifier, way back in 1907... one year before the founding of General Motors, by the way.• It's good to know that, when GM hits 100 later this year, we'll be in the company of others who, like us, refuse to grow old.
• The electronics industry stays young by continually reinventing itself.
• From DeForest's "audion," as it was called, and vacuum tubes of every shape and size... to transistors and integrated circuits... semiconductors and supercomputers... Internet and wireless communications... the breakthroughs keep coming.
• At GM, we intend to stay young by reinventing the automobile... with a lot of that based on electronics.
• The fact is, the auto and electronics industries have traveled similar paths for a long time... sometimes arm-in-arm.• Way back in 1912, GM introduced the industry's first electric starter... which replaced the old hand-crank starters you've all seen on the History Channel.
• We don't even think about electric starters today, but they truly revolutionized the automobile.
• And it was the first of many electronic innovations that transformed automobiles from rough-and-tumble horseless carriages... to the sophisticated machines that we know and drive today.
• In fact, if the automobile were invented today, I'm pretty sure it would debut right here at CES... because more and more, that's exactly what today's cars and trucks are - highly sophisticated consumer electronics.
• The electronics content of the typical automobile has increased by almost 50 percent over just the last five years.
• And you can't think about new consumer electronics for long without imagining what automotive applications they might have.
• At the same time, it's hard to think about today's cars without thinking about the electronics they already incorporate... and not just radios, DVD players, GPS devices, and navigation systems... but also the things you can't see... like airbags, antilock brakes, engine control modules, and the latest major safety breakthrough, electronic stability control, like GM's StabiliTrak system.
• So the auto and electronics industries go way back. At GM, we think we'll be even closer going forward.• For almost 100 years, GM has been in the business of automotive innovation. Now, our intent is to bring you the future of transportation.
• We'll do this by working more closely than ever with the consumer electronics industry... using electronics to reinvent the automobile... and we can think of no better place than right here at the Consumer Electronics Show, to tell you about some of the exciting things we have going on at GM.
* * * * * * *
• If the clearest intersection between the automobile and consumer electronics used to be the radio, today it's telematics... and in GM's case, that means OnStar... the unquestioned leader in telematics today.
• By the way, that leadership would not have been possible without the support and partnership of a lot of you here today.
• Over the past 12 years, your passion and expertise have helped bring OnStar to life... and we look forward to continuing and growing that kind of mutually beneficial relationship with you in the years to come.• We're always open to your ideas to bring electronics to the auto industry... in fact, here with me today are a number of GM's top technology experts. They're sitting in the front row... and you're going to see a number of them on video during my remarks.
• They'll also be here in the room when I finish up, so please seek them out if you have questions or ideas.
• But back to OnStar, its value to our customers is very clear: it provides safety, security, and "peace of mind" through a suite of OnStar-exclusive features... all of which can be accessed through a powerfully simple user interface.• On average, OnStar is now interacting with about 85,000 subscribers per day.
• In an average month, we respond to about...
• 1, 750 automatic crash notifications.
• 11,000 calls for emergency service.
• and 35,000 roadside assistance calls.
• "Good Samaritan" subscribers call for help on behalf of their fellow motorists about 6,000 times a month.
• OnStar also handles about 29 million minutes of hands-free calling per month... and responds to about 800 stolen vehicle location requests.
• To date, OnStar has had more than 82 million subscriber interactions... one interaction about every two seconds.
• There are thousands of examples of OnStar proving itself as a life-saving technology... here's just one.
VIDEO: OnStar commercial
• Clearly, OnStar helps us establish stronger relationships with our customers.• We hear from many subscribers like the couple in the video... who insist that every future car they purchase must have the safety and security features that only OnStar provides.
• OnStar has led to a number of unexpected benefits for GM, as well... like using the system's diagnostics feature to validate our vehicles... like driving down warranty costs... like leading to more than 400 GM patent applications so far.• One huge benefit that OnStar has brought to GM... and again, one we really didn't anticipate... has been learning from the faster engineering and development cycles of the consumer electronics industry.
• In fact, our OnStar technology platform is about to roll out its eighth generation in just 12 years... which, as I suspect you all know, is somewhat faster than our normal automotive development cycle.
• But probably the greatest thing about OnStar is what's great about electronics... we keep finding new ways to take advantage of the technology. A good example is our "Automatic Crash Response" feature.• When we started OnStar, the system alerted us if your airbag was deployed, we called your vehicle to see if you were ok, and directed emergency services to your exact location.
• We thought that was a pretty amazing use of technology way back in 1996.
• By the way, we've responded to nearly 1 million emergency situations since then.
• And OnStar's service is not dependent on a cell phone or other dashboard device that could be damaged in a crash. Our system is imbedded in the vehicle... is very well protected... and works following even the most severe collisions.
• But as time went on, we worked with emergency responders and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who told us that if we could figure out a way to tell them how serious a crash was before they got to the scene, they could prepare for what they were likely to find.
• So, working with a key supplier, we developed a more sophisticated system that tells us not only when an airbag deploys, but also what part of the vehicle was hit, how hard it was hit, how many times it was hit, even whether the vehicle rolled over.
• And now the OnStar advisor can convey all that information to the emergency responders as they travel to the scene... improving the chances of a better outcome for those involved.
• Another great OnStar feature is Turn-by-Turn Navigation, which lets drivers - even back seat drivers - ask for directions from a live advisor, who downloads complete step-by-step directions to your car. The advisor then signs off, and OnStar directs you to your destination.• In keeping with OnStar's guiding principle, we've made the service very easy to use. There are no DVDs to mess with, no maps to read, no hand-held devices to juggle. Everything you need is already in your car.
• Push the blue OnStar button, get directions, and you're on your way.
• I have to say, all this goes way beyond anything I ever thought we'd ever do at GM - I mean, we're not just saving lives... we're actually saving marriages.
• One more OnStar feature I'll mention... our newest one... is what we call "Stolen Vehicle Slowdown," which we'll make available starting later this year on nearly 1.7 million 2009 model-year cars and trucks.• Stolen Vehicle Slowdown is an enhancement to OnStar's Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance, which uses GPS technology to pinpoint the location of stolen vehicles... which we've done more than 30,000 times.
• Well, sometimes, when the police find the vehicle, the person who stole it is still in it... and doesn't want to get caught. Imagine that!
• Well, the bad guy takes off... the police give chase... and all too often, the situation ends tragically. In fact, there are about 30,000 police chases a year in the U.S... which lead to about 300 crash-related deaths.
• At OnStar, we partnered with law enforcement to address this problem... by designing a service that works for everyone... well, everyone except the car thief.
• It all begins with OnStar pinpointing the location of a stolen vehicle and providing that information to the police.
• Then, once the police have a clear line of sight of the stolen vehicle, they can request that OnStar send a signal to slow the vehicle down... which we do by gradually reducing power to the engine.
• Our research shows that about 95 percent of our OnStar subscribers will want Stolen Vehicle Slowdown on their cars and trucks.• And if they decide later that they don't want it for any reason, they can opt out at any time without affecting the rest of their OnStar services.
• So, what else is new at OnStar? What do we have coming?• Take a look at some of the technologies we have on the horizon.
VIDEO: New and upcoming OnStar features.
• These applications, and a lot more, are possible... and not just in the U.S. and Canada, where our primary focus has been to date... but around the world.• In November, we signed an agreement to bring OnStar to China, which represents a great opportunity to offer the benefits of OnStar to a huge new audience.
• And I suspect China's not the last place OnStar will be going. More to come in that department.
• In short, OnStar has been, and continues to be, more than a terrific business for GM, and our customers... it's been a massive learning experience for us, and another great example of where and how the auto and electronics industries intersect today.• Now, where will they intersect tomorrow?
* * * * * * *
• If OnStar and telematics are connecting cars to the outside world... then one of the next big developments in automotive electronics is connecting cars with other cars. Connecting them electronically, that is... to keep them from connecting physically.
• In recent years, advances in electronics have allowed for technologies like anti-lock brakes, traction control, electronic stability control, and obstacle detection.
• At GM, we're working our way up this advanced technology ladder to help our drivers avoid accidents and improve traffic flow.
• In fact, we're now offering a Lane Departure Warning System and a blind-spot alert system on the 2008 Buick Lucerne and 2008 Cadillac STS and DTS.
• We're preparing to take it even further through the use of GPS and advanced transponder technology that we believe will revolutionize the driving experience.
• We call it V2V, or vehicle-to-vehicle communications.
• V2V starts with collision avoidance and builds from there. And the key difference between V2V and sensor-based "vision" systems is in the electronic communications.• Today's vision systems send out a signal that determines the speed and location of the vehicle ahead of you, and directs your car accordingly. It's excellent technology.
• These next-generation systems promise to be considerably better... because they'll be significantly less costly, yes... but more importantly, because they'll use transponders to "talk" with other vehicles within a quarter mile of your vehicle.
• So, if six cars ahead, somebody in a transponder-equipped vehicle steps on the brakes... in your lane or the lanes on either side of you... your transponder will immediately know that, and start slowing down your car before you're even aware you may need to stop.
• This type of technology, unheard of 15 years ago, has the potential to minimize traffic jams and, more importantly, greatly reduce highway accidents and fatalities... with minimal or possibly even no roadway infrastructure required. And it's progressing.
• This past November, for example, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, sponsored a contest for "sophisticated autonomous vehicles." Translation: they held a race for robot cars.
• Well... 37 years ago, GM built the lunar rover for the Apollo Space program. Why not try something a little more down to earth?
• And so, we teamed up with Carnegie Mellon University, Caterpillar, Continental, and others to outfit and race what has to be the most tricked-out Chevy Tahoe this side of... well, this side of the moon.
• The Carnegie Mellon Team named the Tahoe "Boss," after Charles "Boss" Kettering, the first head of GM's research division... who personally invented the electric self starter I spoke of earlier.
• Let's see how the modern-day "Boss" made out.
VIDEO: DARPA Urban Challenge.
• Some pretty exciting possibilities there. I think Boss Kettering would be proud.• So, just to put this in perspective, autonomous driving means that, some day, you could do your e-mail, eat breakfast, apply your make-up, read the newspaper, watch a video... all while commuting to work.
• In other words, you could do all the things you do right now while commuting to work... except you could do it safely!
• It's still a ways off... but the technology demonstrated by "Boss" and V2V represents the latest example of electronics driving big advances in autos.
• Incidentally, we couldn't fit Boss into the room this afternoon, but we did get him into Vegas... and you can see him tomorrow afternoon and Thursday in the Gold Lot at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
* * * * * * *
• So, lots of work today with electronics, lots of work for tomorrow, and some big ideas for even further out.
• Now, let me turn to an issue of more immediate concern... especially with oil hitting $100 a barrel last week... and that's the role of the automobile in energy security and environmental protection... and the role that electronics, and electricity, can play in reinventing the automobile to address these concerns.
• As we look at the global energy and environmental picture today and consider the future of the automobile, one fact stands out above all others... the auto industry can no longer rely almost exclusively on oil to supply the world's future automotive energy requirements.• This matter is getting plenty of attention here in the U.S. recently... but make no mistake... this is a global issue.
• Energy supply, sustainable growth, CO2 emissions, fuel economy... these are topics of concern all around the world... as I have learned firsthand in discussions with national and city leaders from Mumbai and Sao Paulo, to Shanghai and Washington.
• For the global auto industry, it is critical - both as a business necessity, and an obligation to society - that we develop alternative sources of propulsion to meet the world's demand for our products... a demand that is growing at a very rapid rate.
• Consider that 2007 was the sixth consecutive year of record sales for the global auto industry - about 70 million units worldwide.
• In the next five years, we project that global sales will grow to 85 million units a year... and that 80 percent of that increase... 12 million new cars and trucks... will be in developing countries like China and India.
• This clearly shows the enormous opportunity our industry has... but also highlights how important it is that we address the challenge of sustainability.
• And as we've worked to address this, it's become very clear to us that no one solution is going to be best for every part of the world.
• So our strategy at GM is simple: use advanced technology to offer a broad range of cleaner and more efficient vehicles, powered by different sources of energy, to best meet the needs of local consumers all around the world.
* * * * * * *
• How do we do this?
• Well, first I should note that a lot of the recent big improvements in internal combustion engines, both gas and diesel, rely heavily on advances in electronics... things like direct injection...variable valve timing... cylinder deactivation... and others.
• Beyond improvements to conventional engines, a huge opportunity to reduce the growth in oil consumption, reduce U.S. oil imports, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions lies in the fuel used by our cars and trucks... and it's increasingly clear that ethanol offers tremendous potential in this regard, over a surprisingly short timeframe.• Why?
• Well, in part, because there are already so many Flex-fuel vehicles on the road right now that could be running on ethanol, if it were more readily available.
• At GM, alone, we have more than 2.5 million Flex-fuel vehicles on the road just in the U.S... and we have plans to expand our Flex-fuel offerings to 50 percent of our production by 2012.
• Incidentally, in 2008, we'll offer 25 Flex-fuel models around the world, and produce more than one million new Flex-fuel vehicles globally.
• Now, if all of the Flex-fuel vehicles that GM, Ford, and Chrysler have already built in the U.S., plus those that we have committed to build over the next 10 years, were to run on E-85, we could displace 22 billion gallons of gasoline annually. That's billion with a "B."• And if all manufacturers in the U.S. made that same commitment, we could save 37 billion gallons of gasoline annually.
• That's more than four times the oil savings that the new energy legislation will achieve... and, very importantly, it would actually reduce America's oil consumption by more than 10 percent versus today's levels... and CO2 emissions, as well.
• How do we accomplish this? Three straightforward steps:• First, continue to grow ethanol production - and we're pleased to see that the new energy legislation includes provisions for this.
• Second, invest heavily in the development of advanced "cellulosic" ethanol, which can be made from fast-growing, non-food plants like switchgrass... or even from agricultural and municipal waste.
• And third, increase the woefully low number of E-85 pumps in our nation's gas stations. Right now, there are about 170,000 gas stations in the U.S., but less than 1 percent of them offer E-85 pumps.
* * * * * * *
• Another technology that's receiving a lot of attention these days is the gas-electric hybrid.
• It's not very well known outside of Detroit, but at GM, we've actually been in the hybrid business now for five years. And we didn't start small. In fact, we started very big.
• Our thinking was simple: you save a lot more gasoline when you improve the fuel economy of a big bus versus a small car. And so we developed the industry's first two-mode hybrid... which is still the most advanced system in the business.
• In 2003, we began supplying our two-mode hybrids to transit systems in North America and Europe. In fact, I'm pleased to announce today that we will deliver our 1,000th hybrid bus right here in Las Vegas later this month.
• More recently, we've been aggressively expanding our hybrid presence into passenger vehicles.• By the end of this year, GM will be selling eight different hybrid models in the U.S. In fact, we'll introduce 16 new hybrid vehicles over the next four years - an average of one every three months.
• We're particularly excited about two hybrids we've just recently introduced... the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon hybrids... which use the two-mode hybrid system we developed for transit buses.
• Why?
• Because they can get 50 percent better city fuel economy than their gasoline counterparts... which already get the best fuel economy in their class.
• Hard to believe, but Tahoe and Yukon two-modes can get the same city fuel economy as the 2008 Toyota Camry with a base four-cylinder engine. But the Tahoe seats eight, churns out 332 horsepower, and can tow up to 6,200 pounds.
• This performance earned the Tahoe two-mode the "Green Car of the Year" award at the Los Angeles Auto Show last November.
• And even the author of hybridcarblog.com... no friend of SUVs he... noted in a recent post that the Tahoe two-mode is as fuel-efficient as the tiny BMW Mini Cooper.
• Another new hybrid we're very excited about is our next-generation Saturn VUE Green Line. It'll get an impressive 27 percent overall fuel economy improvement, with a hybrid price premium of less than $2,000.• The VUE hybrid continues to prove that you don't have to be rich to be green.
• And beyond that, we've already announced our intention to build a "plug-in" version of our Saturn VUE hybrid.• Our team is hard at work to get this technology to market as soon as we can. Expect an announcement on the VUE plug-in hybrid very soon.
* * * * * * *
• Looking further out, we see tremendous opportunities with hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles.
• Fuel cells have been used to power spacecraft since the 1960s, and today there's a huge effort to develop fuel cells that are strong enough, and small enough, and economical enough, to power today's modern automobiles.
• Since 2002, when we introduced a groundbreaking fuel-cell concept vehicle called AUTOnomy, we've been making steady progress toward our goal of developing fuel-cell vehicles for real-world customers.
• Our latest fuel cell concept, the Chevy Sequel, is powered by our fourth-generation fuel cell stack. It's simpler, more efficient, and smaller than previous generations... yet delivers 25 percent more power.• Last spring, Sequel made history when we drove it 300 miles on a single tank of hydrogen, in real-world conditions, from our fuel-cell research facility near Rochester to Westchester County, New York.
• And the hydrogen we used was derived from hydro power at Niagara Falls... a clean, renewable source... so this was a true zero-emissions run.
• Today, we're in the process of putting Sequel's technology on the street... by building it into our Chevy Equinox SUVs. You may have seen a few of these cruising the strip over the last several days.• The Equinox Fuel Cell has a 150 mile range, refuels in 5-8 minutes, and is a full-fledged electrically-driven ZEV... zero emissions vehicle.
• In the next few weeks, we'll begin delivering more than 100 of these vehicles to customers in Southern California and the East Coast. Together, they'll constitute the world's largest fuel-cell test fleet.
* * * * * * *
• Now, all of these technologies... more fuel-efficient conventional engines, bio-fuels, gas-electric hybrids, and hydrogen fuel cells... are important, and all are possible, thanks largely to advanced electronics. But what's really exciting is when we bring them all together... with concepts like the Chevy Volt onstage with me now.
• In fact, fair to say that no concept in my GM career has created more excitement than the Chevy Volt... here in the U.S., and in fact, all around the world.
• Volt is our first demonstration of a new family of electrically driven propulsion systems that we call E-Flex.• The "E" in E-Flex stands for "electric," because all E-Flex vehicles will be driven by electricity... and E-Flex is "flexible," because it is easily adapted to different sources of electricity.
• The electricity used to energize E-Flex vehicles can come directly from the power grid... or from a small motor running on ethanol or gasoline, like the Chevy Volt... or from a small diesel engine, like the Opel Flextreme concept we unveiled in Frankfurt in September... or from a hydrogen fuel cell, like the Volt concept we showed in Shanghai last April.
• So, how does E-Flex work?• Well, like so many other electronic devices, everything begins with the battery. Take the Chevy Volt.
• Running off the battery, which customers can charge in a standard electrical outlet, the Volt operates as a traditional battery-electric vehicle, with a driving range of about 40 miles.
• And when you consider that three-quarters of American drivers travel less than 40 miles in their daily commute... clearly, Volt will have a huge impact on America's petroleum dependence.
• And if the driver of a Volt needs to travel beyond 40 miles, the engine/generator kicks in to supply the electricity to keep the vehicle moving, as well as recharge the battery.
• This allows the vehicle to drive several hundred additional miles... still with a composite fuel economy of around 150 miles per gallon.
• The whole of General Motors is behind this project. In fact, we have over 200 engineers working on the Volt alone, and another 400 on E-Flex and its various ancillary programs. Here are two of our team leaders.
VIDEO: The promise of electrically driven vehicles.
• The key to getting Volt on the road is advanced lithium-ion battery technology.• Our internal tests have shown that individual Lithium Ion cells, scaled-up to a pack level, will deliver the required power and range.
• We've run prototype packs through a number of tests since last fall... including some pretty severe ones... and the results to date are very encouraging.
• The next step is to begin testing the battery packs in drivable cars... which we will begin shortly.
• Importantly, the vehicle side of the Volt program is being engineered in parallel with battery development. (In fact, I saw the latest and, I suspect, just about final major iteration of the production Volt design theme just before Christmas.)
• Typically, we develop new technology - like the battery and propulsion systems - before we kick-off a production-vehicle program. But, the Volt is being developed with the maximum sense of urgency we can muster.
• In fact, the Volt is just the beginning of our commitment to E-Flex and electrically driven vehicles... and today, I'm very pleased to introduce the next exciting step in our E-Flex development program... the world premier of GM's latest fuel-cell concept vehicle... and the first vehicle introduction ever at CES... ladies and gentlemen... the Cadillac Provoq!
• The Cadillac Provoq is the latest example of GM's E-Flex propulsion system... combining our new fifth-generation fuel cell with a lithium-ion battery... to produce an electrically driven vehicle that uses no petroleum, and has no emission other than water.• The Provoq is the first vehicle to extend the E-Flex propulsion system beyond our small-car architecture... to a new, global, luxury cross-over architecture.
• The concept's fifth-generation fuel cell technology is half the size of its predecessor, yet is able to produce more power and performance.
• The concept will drive 300 miles on a single fill of hydrogen. Hydrogen stored below the cargo floor will mix with oxygen to generate electricity. A lithium-ion battery pack will store additional electrical energy, and also provide peak power for enhanced performance.
• The electricity generated by the fuel cell will be distributed fore and aft to give the Provoq all-wheel-drive traction and great driving dynamics.
• It'll have a top speed of 100 mph... and its 0-60 speed of 8.5 seconds is more than 30 percent faster than our previous-generation fuel cell system. And with instantaneous torque to the wheels, it'll feel even faster.
• At its core, Cadillac is all about luxury, design, and technology... so it's fitting that our premium brand should be propelled by the most advanced propulsion system in the industry.
• The Provoq signals GM's intent to lead the industry with advanced-propulsion technology... in many forms... across multiple brands... from Chevrolet... to Cadillac.
• In addition to its fuel cell and E-Flex advances, Provoq offers other exciting features which demonstrate that great style and environmentally conscious transportation can go hand in hand... supported by advances in electronics. Features like:• A solar panel integrated into the roof to help power onboard accessories, such as interior lights and a high-performance audio system.
• An active front grille... with louvers that close at highway speed to enhance aerodynamics... and open at low speed to provide maximum cooling to the fuel cell stack.
• Both brake-by-wire and shift-by-wire technology... which minimize the concept's need for mechanical systems... reduce the vehicle's overall weight... and provide for greater interior storage space.
• Left and right, fender-mounted charging ports to allow for overnight, plug-in charging of the lithium-ion battery pack.
• And, very importantly, the fuel cell powertrain does not intrude on the passenger or cargo room. The Provoq seats five and incorporates all the comfort, convenience, and infotainment features that Cadillac customers demand.
• Ladies and gentlemen... the Cadillac Provoq represents another important step in GM's commitment to energy-wise, environmentally conscious, electrically driven vehicles... and the promise of truly sustainable transportation.
* * * * * * *
• So, to wrap up...
• OnStar, V2V, autonomous driving, advanced propulsion and electrically driven vehicles... all point to a convergence of the auto and electronics industries that is literally transforming the automobile... and the global auto industry.
• As we face the reality of rapidly growing global demand for our products... in light of society's legitimate energy and environmental concerns... there can be no doubt that electronics will play an even bigger role in our industry's second century, than it did in our first.
• And when we connect the dots...• from mechanically driven, to electrically driven...
• energized by petroleum, to energized by electricity...
• powered by internal combustion, to powered by electric motors...
• mechanically and hydraulically controlled, to electronically and digitally controlled...
• operated in isolation, to fully connected...
• we at GM believe we have the ability to create cars and trucks that are cleaner, safer, "smarter," and more exciting than ever before.
• We believe the future of the automobile is extraordinarily bright... and truly electronic.• And we look forward to claiming that future with the consumer electronics industry... and with all of you.
• Thank you for having me here today... enjoy the rest of the show!
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