The American automobile giant is taking a step backwards in the autonomous vehicle sector. And it is its subsidiary Cruise which suffers the consequences.
The idea of self-driving cars has been around for a decade now. But over the years, the economic giants invested in this sector have gradually realized the difficulty of quickly implementing such a concept. As a result, in recent times, we have observed a rescaling of projects, which have become more modest. And this, whether from a non-specialist like Apple, or from a giant in the field like General Motors.
A $1 billion spending cut
General Motors’ robotaxis subsidiary, Cruise, is going to have to make do with a lot less money in the future. Because the automobile group has just announced that it is reducing spending in this entity in 2024, with $1 billion in savings to come.
It must be said that Cruise is going through difficult times. On October 2, one of its robotaxis hit a pedestrian in San Francisco, then dragged him for a distance of 6 meters. The incident led to the opening of an investigation by the US Department of Justice and the financial regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the revocation of Cruise’s license to operate autonomous vehicles in California.
Cruise, a financial pit?
Even beyond this economic problem, Cruise represents a financial pit for General Motors. The company thus burned $1.9 billion in cash in 2023, and posted pre-tax losses of around $2.7 billion. The restructuring decided in the last quarter of 2023 also alone cost $500 million. And more generally, Cruise has posted a total of $8.2 billion in losses since its launch in 2017.
Figures that could frighten many. However, the general director of General Motors Mary Barra wants to be reassuring. “ We [restons] engaged in Cruise » she indicated. Management also announced that it would soon communicate the timetable for relaunching Cruise operations.
Source : Reuters
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