Skip to main content

GM to accelerate autonomous development with Cruise Automation acquisition

General Motors (GM) is to acquire Cruise Automation to add Cruise’s software expertise and rapid development capability to further accelerate GM’s development of autonomous vehicle technology. GM intends intend to invest significantly to further grow the talent base and capabilities already established by the Cruise team. The acquisition 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-sh
March 14, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
948 General Motors (GM) is to acquire Cruise Automation to add Cruise’s software expertise and rapid development capability to further accelerate GM’s development of autonomous vehicle technology. GM intends intend to invest significantly to further grow the talent base and capabilities already established by the Cruise team.

The acquisition 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 US cities and established a separate unit for autonomous vehicle development.

Cruise will operate as an independent unit within GM’s recently formed Autonomous Vehicle Development Team led by Doug Parks, GM vice president of autonomous technology and vehicle execution, and will continue to be based in San Francisco.  Founded in 2013, Cruise has moved quickly to develop and test autonomous vehicle technology in San Francisco’s challenging city environment.

Related Content

  • February 17, 2021
    M&A in ITS: upward mobility
    2021 has kicked off with a flurry of M&A activity. Adam Hill asks the bosses of IRD and Iteris what we should make of their new purchases – and finds out why the whole process is a bit like dancing…
  • April 30, 2015
    New solutions to old problems set to cut emergency response times
    David Crawford looks at the latest developments in emergency response. Ensuring speedier reactions to transport and travel crises is becoming increasingly important. US statistics suggest that as many as 1,000 ‘saveable’ lives can be lost each year in major cities because of operational defects in their SOS operations.
  • June 5, 2015
    Mega trends will challenge transport technology
    Jon Masters investigates some of the longer term trends that will shape transportation over the next 20 years. Business analysts and investors have already placed their bets on a future of technological smart mobility services. In December last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Uber, the on-demand taxi and lift share smartphone app and start-up business, had been valued at $41.2 billion which, as the Journal reported, is an incredible vote of confidence for a company only five years old.
  • April 23, 2014
    Q-Free continues to strengthen ATMS business
    Following its recent acquisition of TDC Systems in the UK, Q-Free is to acquire Slovenian company Traffic Design, an acquisition that reflects a continuation of Q-Free’s strategy to strengthen its business within Advanced Transportation Management Systems (ATMS). Traffic Design was established in 1990 and is the market leader in traffic management, parking systems and tolling in Slovenia. The company has installed traffic management and parking systems nationwide and is the operator of the country’s tol