General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) may be taking the concept of the designated driver a bit far. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company is "prepared to spend millions of dollars in pursuit of something long viewed as science fiction: a car that drives itself."

The new cars, if they ever come to market, will be able to park themselves, accelerate and brake without the driver's help, and move around spots with traffic congestion. In theory, the cars will be safer because they will take certain functions that may be critical in avoiding accidents and give them to a machine.

The plan does have drawbacks. One is clearly going to be cost. The driverless cars will not be money savers; they will still need engines, wheels, seats and radios. That actually means that a "driverless" car is likely to be more expensive. In an era where fuel costs could stay high for years or even decades, it is not clear that consumers want to spend more for vehicles with fancy features.

GM may feel that it needs more bells and whistles to make its cars more attractive than competition from Japan, but products with better quality, longer warranties and higher fuel mileage might work just as well.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

GM: A driverless car may be here soon originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.