CEO of GM’s cruise robotaxi unit resigns amid US safety review
Kyle Vogt, the CEO of General Motors Robotaxi unit Cruise, has resigned from the company a day after apologizing to employees while it conducts a safety review of its U.S. fleet.
Vogt, 38, offered little explanation and simply said in an email to employees on Sunday seen by Reuters that he was stepping down. Vogt founded Cruise in 2013.
His decision follows weeks of turmoil in the unit, which had to withdraw all vehicles in the U.S. in search of a Accident on October 2, in which a Cruise self-driving taxi dragged a pedestrian who had been run over Security check to carry out.
A source familiar with the circumstances of Vogt’s resignation said Vogt informed the board of his decision on Sunday after apologizing to employees for the company’s problems in an email on Saturday. Vogt speaks of a setback for the industry and a loss of trust. Vogt’s resignation came after GM and Cruise’s board increased their scrutiny of leadership.
Cruise board members met on November 13, and the next day GM general counsel Craig Glidden was named Cruise’s chief administrative officer. The board also said it would hire an outside security expert to assess security operations and company culture.
GM CEO Mary Barra said in an email to employees seen by Reuters that Glidden would serve as Cruise’s co-president along with Mo Elshenawy, who will also become chief technology officer. She continues to believe in technology and its potential.
Cruise competes with Alphabet’s Waymo in the rollout of autonomous vehicles and has tested hundreds of vehicles in several cities across the United States, particularly San Francisco.
In October, the California Department of Transportation ordered Cruise to remove its driverless cars from the state’s roads, saying they posed a risk to the public and that the company had misrepresented the safety of its technology.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into pedestrian risks at Cruise in October, and the Cruise board commissioned it Quinn Emanuel Law Firm to review Cruise management’s response to the investigation into the Oct. 2 accident.
Barra had told investors that Cruise could generate $50 billion in revenue by 2030. The operation posted a loss of more than $700 million in the third quarter of this year due to its plans to expand operations to 15 U.S. cities.
Cruise is suspending its employee stock ownership program
Cruise on Thursday suspended the program under which GM buys back employees’ shares. In an internal email to employees, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt said the company would reevaluate the employee stock ownership program in light of the suspension. Commercialization and revenue generation times would have been delayed.
California regulators in November ordered Cruise to remove its driverless cars from the state’s roads, calling the vehicles a risk to the public. They said the company misrepresented the security of the technology. The regulator said Cruise did not disclose all video footage from an Oct. 2 accident.
Cruise said it showed California Department of Transportation officials the full video of the crash several times and provided a copy to officials. Cruise has also launched an internal review of responses to regulators and the company’s automated driving system.
Cruise this month laid off hundreds who operated and maintained its robotaxi fleets in California, Arizona and elsewhere.