GM has announced that it is acquiring self-driving car start-up Cruise Automation to add Cruise’s software talent and rapid development capability to accelerate GM’s development of autonomous vehicle technology.
“Fully autonomous vehicles can bring our customers enormous benefits in terms of greater convenience, lower cost and improved safety for their daily mobility needs,” says GM President Dan Ammann.
Cruise will operate as an independent unit within GM’s recently formed autonomous vehicle development team and will be led by Doug Parks, GM vice president of autonomous technology and vehicle execution. Founded in 2013, Cruise has moved quickly to develop and test autonomous vehicle technology in San Francisco’s challenging city environment. The start-up will continue to be based in San Francisco.
“GM’s commitment to autonomous vehicles is inspiring, deliberate and completely in line with our vision to make transportation safer and more accessible,” says Kyle Vogt, founder of Cruise Automation. “We are excited to be partnering with GM and believe this is a ground-breaking and necessary step toward rapidly commercializing autonomous vehicle technology.”
The acquisition of Cruise is GM’s latest step toward its goal of redefining the future of personal mobility. Since the beginning of the year, GM has entered into a strategic alliance with ride-sharing company Lyft; formed Maven, its personal mobility brand for car-sharing fleets in many U.S. cities; and established a separate unit for autonomous vehicle development.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second quarter.
