, Columnist
Resist the Driverless Dystopia!
Consumers shouldn't let governments shrink the menu of transportation options.
Road to paradise?
Photographer: Harold Cunningham/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Two iconic figures in the car industry — former General Motors head of product development Bob Lutz and Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance Chairman Carlos Ghosn — have recently outlined competing visions for the future of transportation. Lutz's is a merciless dystopia of automated pods run by huge corporations and hobbyist drivers confined to dude ranches. In Ghosn's, alternative forms of transportation don't kill car ownership but complement it.