GM Reveals Personal Mobility Plan; Barra Sees Chance To Be 'Disruptor'

• General Motors Company GM on Thursday unveiled plans on how it will position itself for a "future of personal mobility."
• Shares were volatile in early market trading, and have since risen slightly to begin Thursday's session.
• On Wall Street, mentions of mobility are typically tied to tech companies or Tesla, so GM's reveal of a plan to tackle newer competitors bears watching.

In a press release, General Motors CEO Mary Barra and other executives introduced plans for a new vehicle lineup and refresh. The company predicts 39 percent of global sales will come from these vehicles next year, and project that number to rise to 40 percent in 2017. GM booked $155.9 billion in revenue last year.

The company also discussed six alternative transportation models it plans to explore, including autonomous cars, car sharing, eBikes, Fuel cells, mixed materials and mixed metal manufacturing.

See Also: Can General Motors Regain Investor Confidence?

By 2017, Chevrolet Volts will be used to drive autonomously in the company's Warren Technical Center campus, while two ride-sharing programs will be up and running by the first quarter of 2016.

In a what may be seen as a surprising move, GM shared its eBike concept during the announcement, which the company said demonstrates its "evolving view of "mobility" in an ever-changing, increasingly urban world."

GM also said it will develop a "commercially viable" fuel cell vehicle with Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) HMC by 2020. Those plans were previously announced in 2013.

"The convergence of rapidly improving technology and changing consumer preferences is creating an inflection point for the transportation industry not seen in decades," Barra said at the unveiling. "Some might find this massive change to be daunting, but we look at it and see the opportunity to be a disruptor. We believe our decades of leadership in vehicle connectivity is fundamental to our quest to redefine the future of personal mobility."