GM CEO Still Sees a Steering Wheel-Free Future Despite Origin Cancellation

Despite recently canceling its purpose-built Origin robotaxi, General Motors CEO Mary Barra remains optimistic about a future with autonomous vehicles (AVs) lacking steering wheels and pedals.

Barra spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, emphasizing her continued belief in the potential of purpose-built robotaxis. However, she explained that the decision to kill the Origin project stemmed from the arduous and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to change the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).

Years of Effort and Legislative Hurdles

“I’ve probably been working on it for six, seven years now,” Barra said on stage. “There came a point earlier this year where we said: ‘How much harder can we go when we don’t have the legislative change?’ And then if you look at how hard it is to get a new law passed right now, we decided that we had to make the right decision.”

The decision to axe the Origin project, which faced months of controversy at GM’s self-driving subsidiary Cruise, came in July of this year, resulting in a $583 million charge for the company.

Personal AVs Still on the Horizon

While the Origin project has been shelved, Barra remains confident that consumers will eventually purchase their own personal autonomous vehicles.

“We’re going to see how it unfolds and how consumers leverage the technology,” she said.

However, she acknowledged that the progress of autonomous vehicle technology has been slower than initially anticipated.

“I think we all thought in that 2016, 2017 time frame it was going to go much more quickly,” she admitted.