General Motors

The Detroit-based car company said it would no longer fund work on self-driving robotaxis

General Motors has said it will retreat from the robotaxi business and stop funding its money-losing Cruise autonomous vehicle unit. Instead the Detroit automaker will focus on development of partially automated driver-assist systems like its Super Cruise, which allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel. GM on Tuesday said it would get out of robotaxis given the considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business, along with an increasingly competitive robotaxi market. The company said it will combine Cruise's technical team with its own to work on advanced systems to assist drivers. GM bought Cruise automation in 2016 for at least USD1 billion with high hopes of developing a profitable fleet of robotaxis. Over the years GM invested billions in the subsidiary and eventually bought 90 per cent of the company from investors. GM even announced plans for Cruise to generate USD1 billion in annual revenue by 2025, but it scaled back spending on t

The poor performance of General Motors' Chinese joint ventures is forcing the company to write down assets and take a restructuring charge totalling more than USD 5 billion in the fourth quarter of this year. The Detroit automaker said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that it will cut the value of its equity stake in the ventures by USD 2.6 billion to USD 2.9 billion when it reports its results early next year. In addition, GM will take USD 2.7 billion worth of restructuring charges, most of it during the fourth quarter. The noncash charges will reduce the company's net income, but they will not affect adjusted pretax earnings, GM said in the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. GM for years has owned 50 per cent of its joint venture with SAIC General Motors Corp. and has other joint ventures, including a finance arm. The ventures used to be a reliable source of equity income for the company, but have swung to losses in the past year. The ventures lost USD 347 ..

The layoffs come as car company is trying to reposition itself as a leader in electric vehicles and software, which are both costly. GM is aiming to cut $2 bn to $4 bn in losses on EVs next year

US sales are down and a once-reliably profitable joint venture in China is losing money, but General Motors still managed to post a third quarter profit of $3 billion Tuesday, slightly less than it made a year ago. The Detroit automaker reported $48.8 billion in revenue from July through September, 10% more than last year, aided by US average vehicle sale prices that were steady with last quarter at over $49,000. Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said that while overall sales in the US, GM's most profitable market, fell 2.2% in the quarter, much of that drop was from sales to large fleet buyers. Sales to individuals, which generally are more profitable, rose 3%. While other automakers have gotten stuck with too many high-priced vehicles when many buyers are looking for lower costs, GM has yet to see such a shift, Jacobson told reporters. I think that the consumer has held up remarkably well for us, he said, adding that next year should be consistent with this year as the Federa

General Motors is recalling more than 449,000 of its SUVs and pickup trucks because the electronic brake control module software may fail to display a warning light when a loss of brake fluid takes place. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday that the recall includes certain 2023-2024 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESVs, 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2023-2024 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban 1500, 2023 GMC Sierra 1500, 2023-2024 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL models. The agency said that without the warning light, a vehicle may be driven with low brake fluid, which can reduce braking performance and increase the risk of a crash. A free software update will be provided to vehicle owners. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Oct 28. Vehicle owners can contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006.

The US and Korean automakers said they had signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to consider ways to leverage their complementary scale and strengths to reduce costs

The plan was first announced in April 2023 when GM and Samsung SDI said the joint venture would cost more than $3 billion, with planned production capacity of 30 GWh and operations to begin in 2026

Cruise filed a recall for its software earlier this month affecting all its vehicles equipped with automated driving systems in the United States

The moves come two months after former Apple Inc. executives David Richardson and Baris Cetinok were promoted to senior vice president roles in the group

In 2022, GM filed a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration seeking permission to deploy up to 2,500 self-driving Origin vehicles annually without human controls

The Michigan automaker is leaning heavily on its gasoline-engine offerings to fuel its profits through a slower-than-anticipated transition to electric vehicles

Donald Trump has harshly criticised Biden's EV policies and vowed to reverse them if he takes office

General Motors, Ford and other automakers which struck deals last year to give customers access to the network said they are not changing their plans

"Our consumer has been remarkably resilient in this period of higher interest rates," GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said

The company is set to announce and begin the testing as early as Tuesday, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter

The state-owned automaker hopes to cut 30 per cent of employees at SAIC-GM, 10 per cent at SAIC Volkswagen and more than half at its Rising Auto EV subsidiary, the people said

Dr T N Subramaniam, an eminent mathematician of Indian origin and creator of Route One company & server for General Motors, passed away in Michigan on Tuesday. He was 76. Subramaniam, who migrated to the US in 1979, was renowned in academic circles in India and the US. He leaves behind him a rich legacy of mathematical models and theories for the world of maths. He taught Maths at Philadelphia university for some years and then shifted to Oakland where he taught for several years. Later, he founded the Route One company for the automotive manufacturing company, which handles auto-financing for all GM cars and GPS systems. He was the architect of the server for the site for General Motors in Troy, Michigan, in the US. The then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi also met him personally while on tour and encouraged him to be innovative and do things that the country could be proud of him. Subramaniam is survived by his wife, daughter, and son-in-law, who work for the Biden administration ..

The company has been focusing its comeback plan on Texas, which has relatively liberal regulation for companies that seek to operate autonomous vehicles in the state

Jenkins, the senior vice president for autonomous vehicle platforms, is leaving after six years with the company, he said in a post on LinkedIn