The CEO of autonomous vehicle company Cruise indicated on Wednesday the General Motors subsidiary aims to offer shared rides “at a radically lower cost” as part of a bid to move eventually “beyond the car.”
Dan Ammann, former president of the biggest Detroit automaker and now the CEO of Cruise, wrote in a blog post that to make order-of-magnitude — rather than incremental — enhancements in transportation, “we need to build alternatives that are superior to the status quo in every way.” The post was titled “We Need to Move Beyond the Car.”
Cruise’s mission, he stated, is to decrease congestion by making shared rides more compelling by offering an awesome experience “at a radically lower cost.” Only then, “will we truly move beyond the car to the transportation system that we deserve.”
Ammann did not detail on Cruise’s plans in his post.
Cruise on Wednesday stated it would offer more information at an event in San Francisco on January 21.
Cruise earlier announced a partnership with Honda Motor to create a purpose-built autonomous vehicle for use in ride-sharing. Honda has made a small investment in Cruise.
Cruise was valued at $19 billion in May following a $1.15 billion round of investment. General Motor’s market capitalization stood at $50 billion on Wednesday.
Previously this year, Ammann scrapped the goal of releasing a Cruise robotaxi service by the end of this year.
General Motors competitor Ford Motor and its development partner Argo AI are preparing to start self-driving vehicles in commercial ride-sharing and delivery services in the United States in 2021.
Alphabet Inc’s Waymo is currently providing ride-sharing services in Arizona in partnership with Lyft.
