GM shuts down its robotaxi program

[Administrator]

Looks like GM may have been dissuaded by how well Tesla's Cybercab / Robotaxi / FSD development is going.

GM halts funding of robotaxi development by Cruise

Source: CNBC

December 10, 2024

General Motors will no longer fund its Cruise division’s robotaxi development, the company said on Tuesday.

The Detroit automaker cited the increasingly competitive robotaxi market, capital allocation priorities and the considerable time and resources necessary to grow the business as reasons for its decision.

GM said it plans to instead “realign its autonomous driving strategy” to focus on advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous systems for use in personal vehicles. The company will combine the majority-owned Cruise LLC with GM technical teams.

The company currently owns about 90% of Cruise and has agreements with other shareholders that will raise its ownership to more than 97%, GM said in a statement. GM anticipates it will complete acquisition of remaining shares of Cruise from outside shareholders by early 2025, CFO Paul Jacobson said Tuesday.

GM’s current annual expenditure on Cruise amounted to about $2 billion, and the restructuring would cut that by more than half, Jacobson said.

With Tuesday’s decision, GM is effectively pulling out of the robotaxi market despite the automaker having already spent more than $10 billion on Cruise since acquiring the company in 2016.

 

[ABILISK]

While that must hurt, better to get out when you can than lose more money. GM is light years behind Tesla.

Automakers should be paying Tesla top dollar for their FSD hardware + software before it’s too late. Plenty of “stuck in the past” people will still buy from them, but not for long.