In this article GM Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Cruise Origin Cruise DETROIT – General Motors is indefinitely delaying production of its Origin autonomous vehicle as its embattled Cruise self-driving unit attempts to relaunch operations. The Detroit automaker said Tuesday its majority-owned robotaxi unit will instead focus on using the next-generation Chevrolet Bolt for development of autonomous vehicles. Cruise has been using now-discontinued Bolts for autonomous vehicle development for several years.
GM CEO Mary Barra, who leads Cruise's board, said in a letter to shareholders that the change will lower Cruise's costs and "addresses the regulatory uncertainty" around the vehicles' lack of manual controls such as a steering wheel or pedals. GM disclosed the change as part of its second-quarter earnings , which included $600 million in special charges related to the halt in production of the Origin at a plant in Detroit. The company "temporarily" halted production of the Origin in November, days after the unit said it was pausing all driverless operations related to an accident in which a pedestrian in San Francisco was dragged roughly 20 feet by a Cruise robotaxi after the individual had been struck by a separate vehicle.
A third-party probe into the October incident ordered by GM and Cruise found that culture issues, ineptitude and poor leadership fueled regulatory oversights that led to the accident. The probe also investigated allegations of a coverup.