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GM’s Cruise To Operate On Reduced Budget

As GM Authority has been extensively following, Cruise – General Motors’ self-driving subsidiary – has been through the wringer as of late, with Founder Kyle Vogt and Co-Founder Daniel Kan recently resigning from their CEO and CPO positions, respectively. Now, in the latest blow to the autonomous driving company, GM’s Cruise will continue to operate on a reduced budget for the time being.

According to a report from Financial Times, The General will announce during a business update on November 29th, 2023 that it is scaling back its ambitions for Cruise, which includes spending cuts. This largely comes as a result of Cruise LLC suspending all robotaxi operations across the United States.

Side profile of Cruise AV unit.

In a statement, a GM spokesperson stated that the Detroit-based automaker remains committed to Cruise, and that its “strategy is to relaunch in one city and prove our performance there, before expanding. We have taken steps to improve our safety culture and rebuild trust.”

In doing this, General Motors is pushing back its timeline for the autonomous driving subsidiary and its long-term goals, which include $80 billion in revenue by 2030.

As a reminder, the recent spiraling of Cruise was sparked by an incident back in early October 2023 where a pedestrian was unintentionally trapped underneath a Cruise AV unit after being struck by a human-driven vehicle. Since then, Cruise has been hit with one consequence after another, including an NHTSA investigation and California DMV driverless permit suspension.

In an effort to alleviate the acute symptoms of this nightmare, Cruise has been taking steps to directly address the issues that lead to the pedestrian incident in the first place. As previously mentioned, all Cruise AV rides – both manual and supervised – have been suspended as the company expands investigations into its analysis of the incident, as well as a recall to update the collision detection system in its robotaxi units, which now provides provisions in the case of another pedestrian-related accident.

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As a typical Florida Man, Trey is a certified GM nutjob who's obsessed with anything and everything Corvette-related.

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Comments

  1. lol in a decade of record profits you have to find money pits. AV and EV efforts to date fit the bill. Instead of AV they could have had an affordable hybrid half ton truck, which would be better for the environment than the Silverado/Sierra EV, funny how that works.

    Reply
    1. They -could- have put the Voltec drivetrain into the half-ton trucks which is what VIA did. But are people at the point they are willing to spend more money for the hybrid drivetrain? or are they more willing to spend 5-10k less and get the gas vehicle?

      The issues are cost and space with the phevs. They have to make compromises to get it to work, and it is easier to use a clean platform with a single drivetrain.

      Reducing the costs of the EV drivetrain, getting range up, and charging speed up, etc will all time some time.

      Reply
      1. Ford is offering the ‘24 F150 hybrid at the same price as the regular 3.5 Ecoboost. The thing with economy of scale in mass production is it doesn’t cost all that much if you actually try to sell them in high numbers.
        Cheaper to sandwich a motor between the transmission and engine, and add a battery, than it to develop a new engine. Like they did with the 3.0 diesel. Like they did with the 2.7 turbo. Like they are with the next generation V8. WAY cheaper than the money they’ve plunked into the Silverado EV which is not going to sell in any significant numbers to achieve that economy of scale.

        GM fubbed up skipping hybrids and I think we may see some rapid course correction in the second half of this decade

        Reply
        1. “GM fubbed up skipping hybrids and I think we may see some rapid course correction in the second half of this decade.”

          This exact thing was just in Detroit News today. gm is now rethinking their direction (yet again) and planning hybrids.

          This management team has made so many critical and expensive strategic mistakes that you have to wonder when the BOD is going to do their job and hold them accountable. Missteps like dropping hybrid alternatives to develop EV’s only, huge losses at Cruise, investments in a failed e-bike venture and a fraudulent truck company called Nikola plus very marginal execution so far launching their prized EV portfolio should call into question their competency.

          Pricing power for ICE trucks and a large SUV’s has papered over their mistakes for years but that will last only so long.

          Reply
          1. Mark Ruess should have been running the show

            Reply
          2. GMs biggest miss-step which wasn’t a miss-step, it was putting faith in the UAW and the dealers which is backfiring. They would be better off and copying the Tesla model, spinning off it’s EV division similar to Tesla bypass both dealers and the corrupt UAW. The UAW doesn’t even represent half of the US auto workers anymore. Which allows the non-uaw worker companies to undercut prices and grow their business.

            Biden didn’t help by pushing up the timelines. I understand WHY he did it, but it was poorly implemented. Originally the government was looking at 2030 for price parity with EVs. And they pushed up the timeline like you can just wave a magic finger and have a factory online 5 years sooner then planned. The lead-time for just the machines for the factory is a year. A lithium mine fast-tracked is 5 years. But the larger issue, is EVs are mostly unchartered water and the tech isn’t refined so there will be step changes as technology progresses.

            The miss steps are very few, and they happen even with the best CEOs.

            Let’s be honest, you are just against EVs.

            Reply
            1. I’m not against EVs. Let’s be honest you are against logic and facts. Don’t kid yourself, a legacy automaker like GM can’t just spin off a company and follow Tesla’s model, Tesla is a trendy tech company that GM can’t just create. Get. Real.

              Reply
  2. “Ford is offering the ‘24 F150 hybrid at the same price as the regular 3.5 Ecoboost. The thing with economy of scale in mass production is it doesn’t cost all that much if you actually try to sell them in high numbers.”

    It is cheaper but the value isn’t very much. You get a boost for city mileage only. It costs more then the 1900 discount they are offering. It is made up with higher trim levels and 4×4 only and emissions credits. The 3.5L actually costs 400 more then the 5L v8. It is a compliance car. The mass production is really because it is the same transmission/hybrid that is in the Interceptor.

    GM has it right for all electrics. The ultium system is the best on the market, and it should be very cost effective. The modularity of the system actually gives it the mass production cost reductions much faster and speeds up the design process.
    It is a very good design for a system.

    What do you consider the barriers to EV adoption? We are running out of oil. The world has 40 years of proved reserves. the last 20 years oil prices will spike.

    Reply
    1. lol Ultium is not the best though, and GM is already moving away from the pouch design.
      The boost in city mileage is huge. It’s a 35% gain while also adding a ton of HP and torque.
      It’s not just higher trims. EV trucks DO NOT WORK in their current form, maybe with solid state and even faster charging… you know I’m not going to address every point you’ve made that is false. I think I’ve proven enough

      You know you don’t need to love and defend everything GM does, right? Critical fans are the ones that want to seee improvement and better product which is better for GM. The ‘yes men’ like yourself counter progress

      Reply
      1. In reality, the only complaint you have with EV trucks is faster charging which I completely agree. They need to hit the <10m and preferably <5 min charge time. Cost is another issue. Fast charging networks are another issue. Solid State batteries aren't really an issue, but it points to the fact the current iteration of batteries can improve, and EVs at this point aren't going to work for everyone. But they can work for some people and applications which drives development.

        The modular design of Ultium =platform= IS the best. There was a rumor GM was moving away from pouch design, but the ultium platform is designed to handle that change because of the modularity of the platform. My guess is they are using everything but the large format battery for the new Bolt. There is no reason they can't.

        The Ford's Hybrid is only available on higher trims. I double checked, I suggest you do the same. (ford has been doing it that way for decades going back to the escape) It is 35% for city driving only. so it -might- be worth it if you start and stop a lot, but if you are starting and stopping a lot, then maybe you would be better served with an EV. Now the Maverick the hybrid is standard.

        I don't have to agree with everything GM does. But I have the business IQ to understand what they are doing and why they are doing it.

        Reply
        1. That isn’t my only thought on EV trucks. You really likely to swindle facts and pick and choose details, huh?
          EV trucks when towing are atrocious. This is further worsened by charging times and infrastructure. This is further worsened by charging stations, or 99.9999% of them, not laid out for trailer charging. This is all further worsened by truck prices and the fact an EV truck that would otherwise compete in the half-ton segment is actually a Class 3 heavy duty. Further to all that you have a vehicle that is worse for the environment for it’s entire life than a hybrid truck – especially if you aren’t charging from clean energy which the majority of the US can’t even come close to achieving.

          Do you understand how far we are away from a publicly viable 200 kwhr production battery that can charge in 5 minutes. Like come on man, be smart.

          The 2023 F150 hyrbid is available on XLT, that is the second lowest trim level. The 2024 is available on the XL trim, or the LOWEST model. So again, with your fact swindling nonsense. Just stop. 35% increase is F***ING huge and do not for a second think it isnt, especially on a class of vehicle that struggles to break an MPG average of 20mpg. And the fact it has 430hp and 570lbft in 5000lb brick. Do you understand that lol?

          You have the business IQ huh? More like someone sold you on magic beans. I will no longer reply to you because everything you say is an absolute utter waste of time. Everything. Sorry to be harsh, at this point based on your comments I am assuming you’re a 15 year old kid.

          Reply
  3. Just shut it down or sell it, it’s a money pit!

    Reply
  4. Echoes of the track and fate of Saturn!

    Reply

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