General Motor (NYSE: GM’s self-driving unit Cruise announced on Thursday it was laying off 900 workers — nearly a quarter of its entire workforce. The move comes directly after reports that after Cruise axed several of its top executives.
The signs were building over recent weeks following an accident in San Francisco in October involving one of Cruise’s vehicles and a pedestrian.
The layoffs put the future of the company in much peril and, indeed, leave the entire autonomous vehicle (AV) sector in a dubious state.
But exchange traded funds tracking the sector have performed well in the past two months, despite the negative news flow. The Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF DRIV is up 18% since the end of September.
Cruise’s Crisis Timeline
What follows is a timeline up to Thursday’s announcement of the job losses at Cruise:
October 2: A pedestrian in San Francisco was seriously injured after being trapped under one of Cruise’s robotaxis. The AV didn’t cause the accident — a human-driven car struck the victim, flinging her in front of the AV.
October 24: California DMV suspended Cruise’s autonomous vehicle permits citing safety concerns amid allegations of safety information misrepresentation.
October 26: The company paused driverless operations across all its robotaxi fleets, including in Austin and Houston in Texas and Phoenix, Arizona.
Cruise said in a statement: “The most important thing for us right now is to take steps to rebuild public trust. Part of this involves taking a hard look inwards and at how we do work at Cruise.”
November 7: General Motors suspended production of its Origin autonomous van, built by Cruise.
November 10: Cruise announced the layoffs of contract workers — mainly those who deal with cleaning and recharging vehicles and customer support inquiries.
November 19: Cruise CEO and co-founder Kyle Vogt resigned. He Tweeted: “Cruise is still just getting started, and I believe it has a great future ahead.”
November 20: Co-founder and chief product officer Dan Kan resigned.
November 22: Cruise said it was plotting a slow return to service. Newly appointed president and chief technology officer Mo Elshenawy said: “Once we have taken steps to improve our safety culture and rebuild trust, our strategy is to re-launch in one city and prove our performance there, before expanding.”
November 28: GM reportedly decided to curb funding for Cruise, reflecting the slower pace of testing.
December 4: Cruise representatives were ordered by a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge to appear at a February 6 hearing into the October accident that led to its licence suspension.
December 9: Cruise terminated nine senior staff members, including chief operating officer Gil West.
Now Read: WeRide Greenlit For Launch Of Paid, Fully Driverless Robotaxi Service In Beijing
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