Major car brand cancels autonomous robotaxis without steering wheel or human controls despite $600 million scam

THE PRODUCTION of a futuristic driverless car has hit a giant hurdle.

In its July 23 earnings call, General Motors announced its autonomous vehicle subsidiary, Cruise, will indefinitely postpone plans to produce a car without steering wheel or steering controls.

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Cruise has scrapped plans to build the Origin, a proprietary autonomous vehicle, its parent company confirmed on the conference call.

GM CEO Mary Barra said shutting down Origin production would “simplify [Cruise’s] way to scale.”

It said special charges associated with production disruptions cost the company $583 million in the second quarter. The car was to be produced at a Detroit factory.

The company did not immediately respond to The US Sun’s request for comment.

Cruise’s former CEO previously told employees that the facility allegedly produced hundreds of iterations of the Origin, according to CNBC.

GM did not reveal how many copies of the car it produced.

As Cruise continues its research and development on American roads, the company has not generated a quarterly profit. The cruise cost GM $1.14 billion in the second quarter, GM said.

However, driving experts claim that self-driving cars will become more efficient and safer drivers than the average American car operator.

Several car manufacturers, including Honda, Toyota, Ford and Tesla, are spending a lot of money to develop the technology.

Producers are betting that the technology will boost consumer and regulatory interest in their vehicles.

INSIDE THE ORIGIN

The Origin was supposed to be a cube-shaped, unmanned vehicle with mounted LiDAR scanners.

Passengers would face inwards as soon as they called the robotaxi.

However, the company temporarily halted production in October 2023.

At the time, Cruise was facing regulatory scrutiny after one of his self-driving cars crashed and dragged a woman 20 feet in San Francisco as she tried to pull over.

California regulators nullified the company’s rights to operate fully autonomous vehicles and required all Cruise vehicles to carry a human driver who could intervene.

But the company has stepped up operations in other major cities, using manned vehicles in Phoenix, Houston, Dallas and Dubai.

The company said a popular and recently discontinued EV will be Cruise’s flagship vehicle.

The Chevy Bolt will continue to be Cruise’s primary vehicle in future operations.

Chevy discontinued the Bolt earlier this year, much to the chagrin of EV buyers.

However, the company said it would bring back the Bolt, once America’s cheapest EV, with an updated Ultium battery.

The battery is expected to improve the car’s range, charging speed, ease of maintenance and performance.