It wasn’t terribly long ago that autonomous driving technology was all the rage, and we were promised that in just a few years, we’d be riding around in driverless vehicles – at least, in ride share vehicles, with full autonomy following in the retail market some time later. However, things have changed dramatically over the past several months, with Ford and Volkswagen disbanding Argo AI, a commercial autonomous vehicle company, while General Motors has been mired in scandals related to its Cruise division. Now, that trend continues, it seems, at least as it pertains to that company’s robotaxi model.
According to GM Authority, Ford’s cross-town rival has paused production of the Cruise Origin robotaxi indefinitely, a move that comes just over a month after the automaker announced that it was pumping $850 million into the troubled A/V unit. This move is reportedly being made amid uncertainties pertaining to regulations, as well as higher per-unit costs. Instead, GM will now pivot to the next-generation Chevy Bolt EV as its robotaxi platform of choice.
At least part of this pivot likely pertains to the fact that the Origin robotaxi isn’t equipped with manual steering controls or pedals, which could pose problems in terms of Cruise obtaining an exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that would allow it to deploy 2,500 units annually on public roads. Meanwhile, GM has also been dealing with a PR nightmare ever since one of its Cruise AVs trapped and drug a pedestrian down the road after that person was hit by another vehicle, and since then, the automaker has slashed the company’s budget on multiple occasions and shaken up its executive structure prior to making the aforementioned investment.
As for Ford, it’s focusing on Level 3 self-driving tech rather than Level 4 and 5 after coming to the realization that the latter won’t be profitable any time soon. After dissolving Argo AI, The Blue Oval formed a new autonomous tech company called Latitude AI to further those efforts, too.
We’ll have more on everything Ford’s competition is up to soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
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Good.