Honda robotaxi plans uncertain as GM-backed Cruise grapples with crash aftermath

Nearly a year after Honda said it would start commercial robotaxi service in Tokyo with vehicles from the General Motors-backed autonomous driving company Cruise, the Japanese carmaker is still deciding whether it can start on time after last fall's crash.

Honda Motor Co. said last October it planned to begin testing Cruise's boxlike Origin automated vehicle in a driverless ride-hailing service in the nation's capital starting in 2026.

But on the heels of that announcement, California regulators suspended Cruise's driverless testing permits after one of the company's robotaxis struck a pedestrian in San Francisco, dragging the person down the street. GM has since halted production of the Origin in favor of autonomous vehicles based on the Chevrolet Bolt.

As Cruise regroups in the wake of the safety crisis, Honda's plans remain under review.

"We are currently examining the impact of the project and refrain from answering whether there will be any change in the start date of the project at this time," Honda spokesman Kazuto Kashiwai told Automotive News this month.

"We would like to start driverless ride service in Japan as soon as possible."

Cruise is targeting a return to running fully autonomous rides this year and possibly charging fares by early 2025, Bloomberg reported in July, citing people familiar with the matter.

Among the overhauls at Cruise, the company installed a former Amazon and Microsoft executive, Marc Whitten, as its new CEO. Cruise founder Kyle Vogt, who announced the Japan trials with Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe, resigned as CEO in November 2023 amid the crisis.

The Tokyo project could represent a step forward for autonomous driving in Japan, where local players typically trail pioneering tech companies in the U.S. or China.

Honda, Japan's No. 2 carmaker, is a domestic leader in self-driving technology. It was the first to deploy a Level 3 autonomous driving system. It took a stake in Cruise in 2018 and has been working with GM and Cruise to develop the Origin.

The companies tested the Origin in the U.S. in 2022 and conducted limited testing in Japan last year. They had planned to begin testing the Origin in Tokyo this year with the target of starting a driverless automated ride-hailing service in the nation's capital in 2026.

But the company is not currently testing the Origin in Japan, the spokesman said.

Honda's Mibe envisioned the project starting with dozens of Origin vehicles and scaling up to 500. If the Tokyo rollout went well, Honda wanted to expand the service to other cities.

Fresh uncertainty is a sign of possibly cooling connections between Honda and GM, a longtime partner on technology collaborations.

Honda and GM still cooperate on developing hydrogen fuel cell systems, and GM continues to manufacture the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX electric vehicles at its North American plants.

But last year, Honda and GM also decided to abandon plans to jointly develop an affordable EV in the latter half of the decade because of differences over market potential and pricing.

Honda opted to use its internally developed platform for affordable EVs instead.

This year, the companies also forged new partnerships with other manufacturers.

Honda circled wagons with Japanese automakers Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motor Co. in a wide-ranging agreement to explore collaboration on everything from electric vehicles and batteries to purchasing and in-vehicle software. Meanwhile, GM agreed Sept. 12 to pursue an equally broad partnership with South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. on areas including vehicle development and production as well as electric and hydrogen powertrain technologies.