GM is curtailing work on robotaxis, in which it invested billions

The American auto giant General Motors admitted that it can no longer support its unprofitable subsidiary Cruise. The development of the robotic taxi is being completed, and the Cruise team will work on autonomous driving technologies that are equipped with General Motors models. Thus, the troubled Cruise, in which about $10 billion was invested, is finished.

General Motors now owns about 90 percent of Cruise shares. The concern is going to increase the stake to 97 percent, and then buy the remaining shares in order to reorient the division. This is expected to happen in 2025 and will allow GM to cut costs by more than a billion dollars a year.

GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra admitted that robotaxis will not begin to pay off very soon, and therefore further investments are not justified.

Google’s subsidiary has launched a robotaxi for everyone in Los Angeles. Look at Cadillac’s luxury self-driving motor home. In Russia, they have developed an autonomous tractor with no seat for the driver.

Two years ago, she had high hopes for Cruise, aiming to make General Motors a pioneer in the field. At that time, the division was generating daily losses of $5.5 million, although they were already taking money for trips.

However, the really serious problems began after an accident in 2023, when a robotaxi did not recognize a person and dragged him for several meters at a speed of 12 kilometers per hour. Cruise found itself under investigation and lost its director, and in the summer of 2024 it stopped working on its own Origin shuttles, leaving only retrofitted Chevrolet Bolts in service.

No driver needed: self-driving cars