Summary
- General Motors announced the shutdown of its robotaxi business, Cruise, on December 10, 2024
- GM plans to realign its autonomous driving strategy towards developing advanced driver assistance systems for personal vehicles
- This decision is expected to result in annual savings of over $1 billion after completion in the first half of 2025
- Cruise founder Kyle Vogt criticized GM’s decision, calling them "a bunch of dummies"
- Waymo, Pony.ai, WeRide, and other companies continue to advance in the robotaxi market while GM shifts focus.
Article
General Motors announced the shutdown of its robotaxi business, Cruise, in a press release on December 10, 2024. The company plans to realign its autonomous driving strategy and focus on developing advanced driver assistance systems for fully autonomous personal vehicles. GM aims to combine the Cruise and GM technical teams to advance autonomous and assisted driving, emphasizing its commitment to providing the best driving experiences to customers.
As the largest U.S. automotive manufacturer, GM is dedicated to autonomous driving and looks forward to bringing benefits such as enhanced safety, improved traffic flow, increased accessibility, and reduced driver stress to its customers. The restructuring of Cruise’s operations is expected to lower spending by over $1 billion annually after completion in the first half of 2025. This decision comes after GM invested at least $10 billion in the Cruise robotaxi business since 2016 without seeing a return on its investment.
The announcement of Cruise’s shutdown follows a period during which GM had indicated the potential restart of its driverless robotaxi business. Cruise had suspended all services in 2023 after an incident in San Francisco where a pedestrian was critically injured. Despite investing significantly in Cruise, GM determined that focusing on personal autonomous vehicles aligned better with its capital and working needs going forward.
The closure of Cruise has led to a reassessment of plans by investors such as Honda, which had intended to launch a driverless ride-hailing service in Japan. While GM’s decision may have surprised some, it reflects a strategic shift towards a more capital-efficient approach focused on personal autonomous vehicles. Cruise’s robotaxi rivals, including Waymo, Pony.ai, and WeRide, have continued to advance their operations and expand services in different markets.
The autonomous vehicle industry has seen significant investments and developments driven by ideas originating from Elon Musk’s initiatives, such as Tesla’s Autopilot feature and the promise of a self-driving Cybercab. Despite the challenges faced by GM with the Cruise shutdown, the pursuit of autonomous driving technology continues with various companies investing in research and development of new mobility solutions. The industry’s focus on advancing autonomous driving technology highlights the ongoing competition and innovation in the sector.
Read the full article here
