Back in 2006, Tesla (TSLA) co-rounder Martin Eberhard declared Tesla's electric vehicles " the future of cars ." That assertion carried more weight after Tesla introduced autonomous driving feature to its cars. Old-school automakers were slow to wake up to this change, but have since raced to catch up. Ford now calls itself a " mobility company. " Automakers are partnering with companies like Google and Uber that have been developing self-driving technology. GM's moves to restructure the company mark one of the most aggressive move yet by a big automaker to transition from making cars powered by internal combustion to ones built around software and electrically charged batteries. GM (GM) said Monday it's laying off 15% of its workforce and retiring models such as Chevrolet Cruze, the Cadillac CT6, and the Buick LaCrosse. GM's stock rose nearly 5% on the news Monday, then fell 2.5% Tuesday as President Trump threatened to cut federal subsidies to GM because of the layoffs.