After GM Cruise's self-driving vehicles were barred from public roads following an accident last month, the company has reportedly plans to re-launch self-cars in one unspecified city. The company is reportedly starting to take steps to improve the public's trust in Cruise and its safety culture before the return. The General Motor's self-driving unit said in a statement shared with Reuters.
In an email sent to Cruise workers, newly appointed President and Chief Technology Officer Mo Elshenawy highlighted the company's next actions as per Axios report.
California regulators are set to make a crucial decision regarding the expansion plans of two competing robotaxi services, Cruise and Waymo, in San Francisco.
In the email, the president told the company's staff that the company would concentrate on "realistic" objectives, such as improving performance, while awaiting the outcomes of two independent investigations.
A Cruise spokesman said in the report that the company will improve its "safety culture and rebuild trust" by testing its performance in one city.
The spokesman also confirmed the staff email's contents, adding that Cruise will concentrate only on its electric Bolt robotaxis.
The GM unit stated that in the short run, it will focus on the Bolt-based Cruise AVs, with a longer-term plan centered on the Origin, a multi-passenger vehicle designed without a steering wheel or other controls for operation by a human driver.
Read Also: Cruise Co-Founder Kyle Vogt Resigns as CEO Amid Executive Shake-up
GM's Cruise in Texas or Arizona
Axios reports that Cruise could potentially start its return in Texas Austin, Dallas, or Houston - where the company already had some facilities and was planning to expand, while another potential location is Phoenix, where Cruise was undertaking autonomous deliveries until it was recently suspended.
Cruise's return follows an accident last month, wherein California restricted its self-driving vehicles from public roads. The business also initiated a recall of all 950 of its cars, as well as a commissioned independent safety audit, according to the Verge.
The company has since then halted all supervised and manual vehicle journeys in the United States while also broadening a safety study of its robotaxis.
Cruise Layoffs On the Horizon
With these developments and adjustments, Elshenawy reportedly said it would result in the layoff of an undefined number of Cruise's 3,800 employees.
These projected layoffs, as per a Cruise representative, would mostly affect non-engineering employees, including those within Cruise's San Francisco commercial deployment sites as well as other cities.
General Motor's spokesman said finance head Paul Jacobson would likely discuss the automaker's financial effect during a call with investors set for Nov. 29.
Before suspending operations, GM CEO Mary Barra stated that Cruise and its autonomous car technology might produce $50 billion in revenue by 2030, making the robotaxi company an important component of her ambition to quadruple sales to $280 billion.
GM reportedly lost $700 million at Cruise in the third quarter and almost $8 billion since 2016.
Meanwhile, it confronts greater labor expenses under a new United Auto Workers contract, slower-than-expected electric car sales, and pricey new Washington pollution rules.
Related Article: GM's Cruise To Recall Hundreds of Driverless Cars After Halting Operations, Recent Crash Reports
