Mercedes Benz

Even while his company tested a self-driving vehicle at the 2017 CAR Management Briefing Seminars, Magna CEO Don Walker tempered expectations about the technology. “A full autonomous vehicle is a long way off for lots of reasons," he said. Photo credit: GREG HORVATH I've been hoping this summer that someone somewhere at an automaker or supplier would be brave enough to say that autonomous vehicles -- which still have no path to profitability and still have no clear customer base clamouring for them -- aren't going to happen anytime soon. I don't recall anyone saying it last week at the CAR Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Mich. I haven't heard it recently on the record from auto company executives and suppliers, both of whom are heavily invested in trying to bring about self-driving vehicles, even if they harbor personal doubts. And some do. After interviews, when the tape recorder is off and there is time for off-the-record chitchat, several execu...