General Motor’s Cruise unit is looking cut costs this year ahead of its planned ramp-up. The company is facing mounting losses, leading to investor concerns about the validity of Cruise’s robotaxi concept.
Gil West, Cruise‘s Chief Operating Officer, recently said this at a tech conference:
We’ll continue to look at hardware, software – both in terms of component costs as well as the quantity of components that are on the vehicle – and continue to drive cost out as we move forward.
According to Reuters, Cruise burned through nearly $2 billion last year. Originally, Cruise had planned to already roll out a fleet of robotaxis in North America. However, the company has had to delay this rollout due to regulations, safety investigations over accidents and arduous technology.
The robotaxi industry is not doing well in North America. Ford and Volkswagen’s Argo AI self-driving unit shut down last fall. At the same time, Alphabit’s Waymo has laid off over eight per cent of its workforce this year as part of tech industry layoffs.
Cruise currently operates a small San Francisco fleet that has driven just over a million miles. As well, the company is testing the Cruise Origin in both San Francisco and Tokyo through a partnership with Honda.
