GM to refocus autonomous driving development on personal vehicles

General Motors (GM) has abandoned plans to develop a self-driving taxi business and is restructuring its autonomous driving development to refocus on personal vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

GM, which owns 90% of the San Francisco-based Cruise robotaxi business, will now integrate the company into GM’s wider ADAS strategy.

It said the decision to scrap moving into the robotaxi business was due to “the considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business, along with an increasingly competitive robotaxi market”.

Mary Barra, chair and chief executive of GM, said, “GM is committed to delivering the best driving experiences to our customers in a disciplined and capital efficient manner.

“Cruise has been an early innovator in autonomy, and the deeper integration of our teams, paired with GM’s strong brands, scale, and manufacturing strength, will help advance our vision for the future of transportation.”

GM is pushing to acquire 100% of the Cruise business and is now working to “restructure and refocus the company’s operations”.

GM no longer has a presence in the UK market after selling its Opel and Vauxhall brands to Stellantis in 2017.

The UK government has paved the way for self-driving vehicles to be on British roads by 2026 through its Automated Vehicles (AV) Act which became law earlier this year.