GM's Cruise plans limited relaunch of driverless taxis

In the wake of California's recent restriction on self-driving vehicles, General Motors' autonomous taxi unit, Cruise, is gearing up for a re-launch in a yet-to-be-disclosed city. The move follows a hiatus in supervised and manual car trips across the United States, coupled with a broader safety review initiated after an accident in the previous month.

The suspension led to leadership changes, with CEO Kyle Vogt and Chief Product Officer Daniel Kan stepping down, causing disruptions within the company and raising concerns in an industry reliant on public confidence and regulatory cooperation.

Cruise aims to reinstate operations in a single city, intending to demonstrate its performance before considering expansions. The focus for now will be on the Bolt-based Cruise AVs, with long-term plans revolving around the Origin, a human-driver-independent multi-passenger vehicle.

This initiative involves job cuts, particularly in non-engineering roles, with further details anticipated by mid-December. GM's financial impact will likely be addressed by finance chief Paul Jacobson during an analyst call scheduled for November 29.

Before the suspension, GM's CEO Mary Barra had projected significant revenue potential, estimating $50 billion from Cruise's autonomous vehicle technology by 2030, a crucial part of GM's strategy to double overall revenue.

However, the setbacks at Cruise coincide with broader challenges for GM, including substantial losses in its autonomous vehicle division, increased labour costs due to a new labour contract, sluggish sales of electric vehicles, and costly regulatory standards.

The suspension, resulting from an accident involving another vehicle and a pedestrian, led to California revoking Cruise's licence for driverless rides. While Cruise has operations in Phoenix and Austin, the relaunch city is unlikely to be San Francisco, where the incident occurred.

Cruise had previously sought permission from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to deploy self-driving vehicles annually but needs official approval before deploying the Origin on public roads.

Furthermore, Cruise has committed to compensating employees for potential tax liabilities on vested stocks, following concerns raised by the suspension about the tax burden on their stocks, which had a higher valuation before the hiatus.

(With Reuters Inputs)