General Motors’ Cruise division hasn’t had the best ride over the last couple of years, and now, the automaker is pulling the plug – kind of. The autonomous taxi service will be rolled into GM’s existing technical teams and will work to “advance autonomous and assisted driving” features for its retail vehicles.
GM CEO Mary Barra told analysts, “I want to be clear that GM made this decision to refocus our strategy because we believe in the importance of driver-assistance and autonomous driving technology in our vehicles.” The automaker believes the shift could lead to fully autonomous customer vehicles.
The automaker’s decision is expected to cut more than $1 billion from its expenditures, reducing GM’s outlay on Cruise by about half. CFO Paul Jacobson said that operating an autonomous taxi business “is expected to require a significant amount of incremental time and capital beyond the $10 billion we have already invested.”
GM’s aim is to reach Level 3 automation, which means the vehicle takes full control in certain situations, but the driver must still remain attentive. Level 4 and 5 automation systems don’t require human input.
Cruise’s disappearance from the autonomous vehicle scene might seem like a blow to the industry, but several companies remain. NVIDIA, Waymo, Zoox, Motional, Tesla, and others are moving forward with similar programs, leaving plenty of competition where they are currently allowed to operate.
[Images: Shutterstock]
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Source: The Truth About Cars
