Although GM is taking steps to reap the benefits of greater electrification and use of driverless vehicle technologies in the future, company CEO Mary Barra also stresses that the traditional ‘owner-driver’ model will be around for a ‘very long time’.

Speaking at an Automotive Press Association event in Detroit, Barra said that GM sees new mobility models as ‘additive’ and with the potential to grow and be ‘quite substantial’. However, she also said the core ‘owner-driver model will be there for a very long time’.

The Detroit News also noted that while GM is planning a driverless taxi service in a yet-to-be-named city in 2019, Barra reminded the audience that the ‘individual car buyer will be the bread-and-butter of the business for quite a while’.

The potential for ride-sharing services specifically comes when the cost of autonomous vehicles comes down, Barra said.

Return to Europe via ride-share?

Bloomberg reported that Barra held out the possibility of GM returning to European operations via a new mobility model or mobility as an on-demand service facilitated by driverless technologies. “Nothing keeps us from going back to Europe,” she reportedly said at the event, adding that it is “absolutely possible”.

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GM recently showed a self-driving Bolt and said it will have them ready for ride-sharing services in 2019. Earlier this year, some 130 autonomous test vehicles equipped with GM’s latest self-driving technology were produced at Orion Assembly Plant in Michigan and joined more than 50 autonomous vehicles already deployed in testing fleets in San Francisco; Scottsdale, Arizona; and metro Detroit.