GM About Face on Robo Taxi Development

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on GM About Face on Robo Taxi Development

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General Motors (NYSE: GM) plans to realign its autonomous driving strategy and prioritize development of advanced driver assistance systems on a path to fully autonomous personal vehicles. GM will build on its Super Cruise program, the company’s hands-off, eyes-on driving feature, now offered on more than 20 GM vehicle models and currently logging over 10 million miles per month. GM made the announcement on a conference call for analysts late yesterday. The move could mean significant savings next year on research and development costs at the embattled Cruise company.

“GM is committed to delivering the best driving experiences to our customers in a disciplined and capital efficient manner,” said Mary Barra, chair and CEO of GM. “Cruise has been an early innovator in autonomy, and the deeper integration of our teams, paired with GM’s strong brands, scale, and manufacturing strength, will help advance our vision for the future of transportation.”

GM, which owns about 90% of Cruise, has agreements with other shareholders that will raise its ownership to more than 97%. The company will pursue the acquisition of the remaining shares. Contingent upon the repurchase of these shares and Cruise board approval, GM will work with the Cruise leadership team to restructure and refocus Cruise’s operations. GM expects the restructuring to lower spending by more than $1 billion annually after the proposed plan is completed, expected in the first half of 2025.

“As the largest U.S. automotive manufacturer, we’re fully committed to autonomous driving and excited to bring GM customers its benefits – things like enhanced safety, improved traffic flow, increased accessibility, and reduced driver stress,” said Dave Richardson, senior vice president of software and services engineering.

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