General Motors is putting its autonomous Cruise Origin service van on ice. The company said that Struggling CruiseGM, which is majority owned, will now focus on production of the next-generation Chevy Bolt. Car manufacturer for moving away from the old battery system, but did not reveal plans for the new model at the time.
According to a letter from GM CEO Mary Barra , the shuttle van’s indefinite delay “resolves the regulatory uncertainty we faced with Origin due to its unique design.” Barra added that unit costs for the next-generation Bolt will be lower, “which will help optimize Cruise’s resources.”
GM and Cruise were working with Honda on the Origin. Had to have an Origin with no driver’s seat, steering wheel or pedals. It debuted in Japan in 2026.
In October, the California Department of Motor Vehicles on security issues. Earlier that month, a pedestrian in San Francisco was dragged 20 feet by a cruise vehicle and after a hit-and-run by another car pushed him into the path of a robotaxi. Cruise later suspended all driverless operations in November.
according to , former Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt told employees at one point that hundreds of pre-commercial Origin vehicles were being built. The company has reopened robotaxi operations in Phoenix, Houston and Dallas and conducts trials in Dubai. However, he did not resume his activities in San Francisco. The October incident is still under investigation there.
Shelving the Origin is not a decision that GM and Cruise will take lightly. At GM , the automaker noted that it spent about $583 million to restructure the Cruise. He said it resulted in “an unmanned, controlled and mechanical voluntary shutdown of Cruise [autonomous vehicle] US operations and indefinite delay of Cruise Origin.”
On the plus side, resuming work on Bolt (probably will use GM). next time) could be a boon to GM’s bottom line. By 2023, the Bolt EV and EUV will account for most of GM’s electric vehicle sales. It planned to produce about 70,000 units before ending production last year.
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