With the launch of its all-electric Chevrolet Bolt EV and progress in developing self-driving software, General Motors has grabbed the pole position in the race to develop automated driving systems, according to a new report. Analysts from Navigant Research, in a report released this week, rank the automaker ahead of 18 other companies vying to put automated cars on the road. GM has always been among the leaders in the pursuit of autonomous cars, the report says, but it has ?begun to edge ahead? as commercial deployments draw nearer.
Signs of GM?s increasing readiness have appeared recently. Last week, the company sent government regulators a voluntary safety report that offered fresh details on its technology, and followed that report with a request that federal officials grant an exemption to existing safety standards that would allow GM to test autonomous cars that don?t have steering wheels starting in 2019. Combined with the all-electric Bolt EV?the flagship of GM?s current autonomous plans?the company?s Cruise Automation subsidiary, investments in ride-hailing service Lyft, and in-house development of the Maven car-sharing platform all point toward providing General Motors with the technological savvy and capability to deploy at scale necessary to succeed in the nascent autonomous-vehicle marketplace,? according to Navigant?s report, co-authored by analysts Sam Abuelsamid and Lisa Jerram.

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