Cruise managers take a measured approach to saving money and improving safety culture. This should help put the troubled General Motors subsidiary on the right path.
The first steps of this reconstruction plan, which includes the temporary cessation of production of the robotaxis called “Origin” was explained by Mo Elshenawy. He previously served as Executive Vice President of Engineering at Cruise and took over after the resignation from co-founder and CEO Kyle Vogt to the position of president.
According to Elshenawy, the current strategy includes more realistic plans. That means focusing on the current robotaxi platform – the Chevy Bolt AV – rather than the Origin shuttle. Its production began at the beginning of this year. GM recently temporarily suspended production of Origin. Now it is said that the development of the Origin program will continue. However, it will not enter production in 2024. The company is also reviewing its layoff plans and will provide an update in the next few weeks.
While Elshenawy did not provide a timeline for restarting Cruise operations, he said the company would initially restart in just one city. This is a departure from the previously aggressive multi-city launch strategy that Cruise and GM had focused on in 2023.
The descent began with that Accident on October 2nd, in which a pedestrian who had previously been hit by a human-driven car and got into the path of a cruise robotaxis was dragged a few meters by the vehicle. Cruise had refused to provide the correct information, which is why permit was drafted in to operate robot taxis.