The North American International Auto Show is underway in the US city of Detroit. The show has long been the major industry event of the year. The message from some speakers at this year's show: That 2018 is the year autonomous vehicles will become a commercial reality. CGTN's Dan Williams has this report from the "Motor City".

These are the latest automobiles set to hit showrooms across the globe. The focus for most carmakers remains on the present. But it would appear the future has now also arrived with autonomous vehicles, on a commercial level, set to become a reality.

JACK WEAST INTEL CHIEF ARCHITECT FOR AUTONOMOUS DRIVING SOLUTIONS "I think 2018 will be remembered as the year when these science projects turn into commercial reality. Our company alone is going to deliver over two million autonomous vehicles this year that are going to start saving lives here today."

DAN WILLIAMS DETROIT "All across this event, there are various examples of that autonomous vision. This is an autonomous truck from a Stockholm based company. No driver, means more space for goods at the back."

The company says the trucks will be in operation on Swedish roads later this year, having already signed a deal with a supermarket chain to deliver goods to stores. The truck will work autonomously, although it can be controlled remotely should any issue occur.

ROBERT FLACK EINRIDE CEO "Instead of having the driver in this driving seat, we remove it and it is now controlled remotely. So we have autonomous self-driving but we still have the operator and remote control of the vehicle."

In the U.S, General Motors hopes to launch a fleet of robo-taxis next year. While Ford will advance the testing of self-driving cars this year ahead of a ramping up to full-scale production.

SHERIF MARAKBY, VICE PRESIDENT FORD AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES & ELECTRIFICATION "We are looking at autonomy as an opportunity. Our timing for launch actually at scale is still in three years in 2021 but we have vehicles already being tested that you will see in different places in the US today."

The pace has left governments in a scramble to keep up. U.S Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao says the federal government will introduce updated autonomous guidelines this summer in an effort to modernize regulations. But she warned that more still needs to be done to win over public opinion.

ELAINE CHAO, SECRETARY US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION "Seventy one percent of the public feels some kind of anxiety about automative driving systems, autonomous vehicles. And it is really incumbent on the manufacturers and the hi-tech industry to assuage those concerns. Consumer acceptance will be the constraint of their growth."

But not everyone is convinced. Some warn that the pace is too fast and that safety issues cannot be swept aside.

JOAN CLAYBROOK, CONSUMER CO-CHAIR ADVOCATES FOR HIGHWAY & AUTO SAFETY "Well there are different levels to autonomous cars and the auto industry is saying we are jumping right in to level four which means no brake pedals, no steering wheels, no gas pedal. And so therefore we need an exemption from safety standards. Well I don't think that is right. In many ways, this is almost like an attempt to deregulate auto safety."

For many, autonomous cars remains the stuff of science fiction. But the message from this auto show is clear. The era of driverless vehicles has arrived. DW CGTN DETROIT.