After losing its permit to operate in California, and halting all autonomous operations, Cruise is now pausing production of its fully autonomous pod, the Origin. Just the latest blow for the company, the move is a sign of how badly the past month has bruised the GM-owned company’s reputation.
Earlier this year, things were looking rosy for Cruise, which received greater freedom to test its autonomous technology in California. The situation quickly turned, following a number of highly publicized accidents, including one that involved its autonomous test vehicle dragging a pedestrian (who had first been hit by another, human-driven vehicle) several feet before it came to a stop.
Although the vehicle in those incidents was a modified Chevrolet Bolt, the impact of it has been significant enough for Cruise to pause production of the Origin, which it is producing with GM and was supposed to hit the streets this year.
Read: GM’s Cruise Suspends All Autonomous Operations After California Ban
“Because a lot of this is in flux, we did make the decision with GM to pause production of the Origin,” Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt told staff in a meeting on Monday, the audio from which was obtained by Forbes. “During this pause we’re going to use our time wisely.”
General Motors confirmed to the outlet that it was pausing production of the Origin after putting the finishing touches on a small number of “pre-commercial vehicles.” It was emphatic that the halt was only temporary, though it was not clear when the companies planned to resume production.
The automaker reiterated that the Origin is an important vehicle for both it and Cruise. The new vehicle is a purpose-built AV that can be used as both a robotaxi and parcel delivery vehicle, and it will allow the company to make good on its promises of increased accessibility.
In the staff meeting, Vogt said that the company was in active discussions with partners and regulators, and looking to “rebuild trust with these groups.” He said that in order to build that trust, they needed to “hear things from us first and not from the press.”
