GM to launch self-driving cars in 2019

Detroit - General Motors expects to have autonomous vehicles working commercially in big cities sometime in 2019.

The company made the prediction on Thursday in slides posted on its website ahead of an investor presentation.

The company says that based on its current rate of change, it expects "commercial launch at scale" in heavily traveled urban environments in 2019. The slides mention delivery and carrying passengers.

GM's Cruise Automation unit is currently testing autonomous Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles with human backup drivers in San Francisco, Detroit and Phoenix with plans to test in Manhattan next year. Presumably the backup driver would be removed at the time of the commercial launch.

The slides say that GM is focused on deploying self-driving vehicles safely but say the company is in the lead vs rival companies.