Date: November 7, 2023. — General Motors (GM) has announced that it will temporarily stop producing its fully autonomous Cruise Origin van, a vehicle that was jointly developed with Honda and Cruise. The decision comes after Cruise suspended all its driverless operations nationwide. This action followed a license suspension by California regulators, who deemed Cruise self-driving vehicles a risk to the public.
According to Forbes, Cruise CEO, Kyle Vogt told staff during an all-hands meeting that the company has already produced hundreds of Origin vehicles. These vehicles are enough for the near-term until the company resumes its operations.
Earlier, in February 2022, Cruise had petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and sought permission to deploy up to 2,500 Origin vehicles on public roads in the United States. The NHTSA, on the other hand, has yet to rule on the petition and has initiated two investigations into Cruise’s safety policies.
In December 2022, authorities launched the first investigation following a Cruise vehicle’s collision with a pedestrian in San Francisco. The authorities opened the second investigation in October 2023. The NHTSA initiated this after receiving complaints that Cruise vehicles were not yielding to pedestrians or cyclists. The NHTSA said it was concerned that Cruise was not taking sufficient precautions to protect vulnerable road users.
