GM pausing production of Cruise Origin after suspending US driverless robotaxis

General Motors Co. says it'll pause production of its autonomous Cruise Origin vehicles at the Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center after Cruise LLC last month suspended its U.S. driverless operations.

"We are finishing production on a small number of pre-commercial vehicles and after that, plan to temporarily pause production," according to a statement from GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly.

The GM autonomous-vehicle subsidiary halted its robotaxi service last month. The move came after California regulators revoked its license, stating the vehicles posed “an unreasonable risk to public safety." Specifics for the reasoning weren't shared, but on Oct. 2 in San Francisco, a Cruise robotaxi ran over and pinned a pedestrian under one of its tires after the pedestrian had been hit by another vehicle driven by a human.

The Origin is an autonomous shuttle with no steering wheel or gas pedal that seats up to six people. Cruise revealed the vehicle in January 2020, and it hasn't used the vehicle in its driverless robotaxi operations yet. The Origin only has been used for testing.

Cruise had been using modified Chevrolet Bolt electric cars for its driverless service. The vehicles had driver controls in them, but no safety driver.

Cruise also is being investigated by U.S. regulators after receiving reports of potential risks to pedestrians and passengers.

Cruise does have human-supervised operations. Those are continuing, even under California's indefinite suspension.

"We believe," according to GM's statement, "autonomous vehicles will transform the way people move around the world, and the Origin is an important part of the AV journey — it's the first scalable vehicle ever designed specifically for autonomous rides and will make transportation more accessible."

GM, Honda Motor Co. and Cruise still are planning to launch autonomous vehicle service in Japan in early 2026.

Forbes first reported that GM was halting production of the Origins after obtaining audio of a Cruise meeting with CEO Kyle Vogt. GM declined to disclose how many Origins have been built, though the report says Vogt suggested hundreds had been assembled.

Cruise has yet to turn a profit, according to GM's third-quarter earnings. The company had invested $732 million into the subsidiary compared to $497 million the year prior. The Detroit automaker wants to see Cruise represent $1 billion in revenue in 2025.

In addition to the Origin, Factory Zero builds the GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV as well as the Silverado EV pickup.

bnoble@detroitnews.com

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