Car industry General Motors abandons development of robotaxi business

The US automotive group General Motors has announced that it is giving up the robotaxi business of its subsidiary Cruise. The move marks a U-turn for the company and is also due to competition.

The development of the project would require "considerable time and resources" in the increasingly competitive robotaxi market, the car manufacturer explained.

Instead, General Motors (GM) wants to focus on the development of advanced driver assistance systems for private vehicles. The Cruise engineers would be incorporated into the General Motors teams for this purpose.

"Not a core business"

General Motors bought the Cruise start-up in 2016 and has since invested billions of dollars in the further development of the company. "A robotaxi business is not the core business of General Motors," said GM CEO Mary Barra in a conference call with analysts. However, the company's commitment to "autonomous technology" is "unwavering".

The US car manufacturer announced in mid-November that it would be bringing its automated driving system called Super Cruise to Europe. "If it is legally possible, as early as 2025," GM's Head of Europe Pere Brugal told Welt am Sonntag. GM is working with the European authorities and politicians on a legal framework for the harmonized introduction of such systems. According to the manufacturer, Super Cruise is now available on more than one million kilometers of road in North America.

Fatal accident

The closure of the robotaxi business comes one year after a serious accident: at the beginning of October 2023, a woman in the Californian city of San Francisco was seriously injured when she was run over by a Cruise robotaxi.

There had already been two previous collisions. Following these accidents, the authorities in San Francisco withdrew Cruise's permit to operate the robotaxis. The company paused the expansion of its operations to other US states and laid off a quarter of its workforce.

Competition drives away

Google's sister company Waymo is currently the most successful robotaxi developer and transports passengers in several US cities. Waymo cars now make more than 150,000 trips with passengers per week. Another competitor, Zoox, which belongs to Amazon, is soon planning to offer driving services in Las Vegas and San Francisco, among other places.

The shadow of Elon Musk lies over the current providers: the Tesla boss wants to start production of a robotaxi without a steering wheel and pedals at the electric car manufacturer in 2026. The "Cybercab" presented in October will also only be able to manage with cameras, while Waymo and Zoox will also rely on significantly more expensive laser radars that scan the surroundings. This would give Tesla a considerable cost advantage.

Many experts doubt that safe autonomous driving is possible in all situations with cameras alone. However, Musk has gained a lot of political capital through his support for future US President Donald Trump. As a result, industry observers can imagine looser regulation in the USA, from which Tesla would benefit. Musk announced his intention to build up to two million Robotaxis per year.

Apple stopped its program to develop self-driving cars back in February after years of development and billions in costs.

SDA