A vehicle control architecture designed based on a top-down approach with abstraction and modularity. The control architecture includes a vehicle/environment sensing and perception processor that processes sensor signals, and motion planning processors that provide lane center trajectory planning and tracking command, lane change trajectory planning and tracking command, and forward and backward speed and target tracking command. The architecture also includes a driver command interpreter that interprets driver commands and a command integration processor that provides reference dynamics for vehicle lateral, roll and longitudinal dynamics. The architecture also includes a control integration and supervisory controller that provides control integration and outputs integrated longitudinal force command signals, integrated lateral force command signals, integrated yaw moment command signals and steering torque command signals that are used by a vehicle longitudinal controller and a vehicle lateral controller.