As we look ahead in our fast, ever-evolving environment powered by technology and innovation, we taken giant strides at General Motors Africa & Middle East, towards our future mobility vision within the region. For us, 2022 ultimately culminated in several launches and milestone announcements from General Motors and our brands, Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac.
We are making excellent headway on our commitment to bringing 13 electric vehicles to the Middle East, by introducing the Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Blazer EV, Chevrolet Bolt EUV, GMC HUMMER EV, GMC Sierra EV Denali, Cadillac LYRIQ, and Cadillac CELESTIQ – with many more to follow. Our transition to EVs and AVs is at the heart of our technology – and software-driven growth strategy.
We are progressing toward decarbonizing our business and personalizing customer experiences with our underlying value of safety, reaffirming our vision of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. Through strategic investments in our vehicles, services, businesses and technologies, we are leading the way toward a cleaner, smarter and safer society. A key example of our efforts was announcing that Dubai will be the first city outside the US to operate GM-majority Cruise self-driving vehicles by 2023 in partnership with RTA. We also announced award-winning Super Cruise™, the first true hands-free driving-assistance technology for compatible roads, coming to our region in 2024.
This year also saw us roll out our pioneering in-vehicle safety and security technology, OnStar in the UAE, following the launch in Kuwait in 2021. To highlight the importance of the road safety discussion that OnStar incites, we recently collaborated with six regional artists to reframe the conversation around road traffic accidents taking our audience on a thought-provoking journey using the power of art. Through immersive digital art pieces, we allowed more people to lean in and get involved in this important subject.
As we move forward, we remain optimistic for a bright future of mobility, as regional governments bring to life various net zero visions, including the UAE’s 2050 Net Zero ambition, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Net Zero 2060 vision as well as Egypt’s 2030 sustainability goals. We are working closely with public and private sectors to drive forward a shared mission of building a robust infrastructure that will inch us closer to our collective visions of safety, connectivity and sustainability.
A true testament of this is our partnership with the Egyptian Ministry and our dealer partners in Egypt, Al Mansour Automotive, where we are the Exclusive Mobility Principal Partner for 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27. Through this agreement, we are powering COP27 with a fleet of 150 electric vehicles, serving as an interpretation of how an affordable EV might be as well as a luxury option showcasing our full spectrum and highlighting our promise to deliver an EV for every customer and every wallet. Through such pivotal platforms, we are endorsing government policies in this domain and enabling our communities to take-up cleaner, greener vehicles. Bringing everybody in at full throttle, are exploring EV leasing opportunities in the UAE with Al Wegdaniyah Transport Solutions – reinforcing our commitment to bring electrification to all modes of transport.
On a community level, we also want to play an active role in developing an equitable STEM pipeline of talent in the region and nurture the workforce of tomorrow. As part of our commitment, we have furthered our partnership with the Arab Youth Center (AYC), after the success of our collaboration last year. The six-month collaboration features a series of webinars, open dialogue sessions highlighting AI and leadership skill sets, complemented by mentorship and internship opportunities Arab youth across 22 counties in the Middle East.
Our commitments and investments reflect our unprecedented sense of urgency, as well as our decisiveness, agility and breadth to take everyone along our journey to a safer, more equitable and all-electric future. We are proud to have been a part of the region’s history for 96 years and are excited about the progress we are making in tandem with our dealer partners as we pave the way for a bright future of mobility in the region. We look forward to continuing this while building a strong, prosperous 2023 and beyond.
Gary West is Managing Director of OnStar Middle East Operations and Future Mobility General Motors Africa and Middle East.
The opinions expressed are those of the author and may not reflect the editorial policy or an official position held by TRENDS.