Honda Motor Company confirmed that it will no longer participate in a self-driving taxi partnership with General Motors Company (GM), after the US automaker announced earlier this week that it will cease development of robotaxis at its majority-owned Cruise joint venture.
GM decision to cease development of robotaxis is part of a broader internal cost-cutting programme, with the aim of cutting annual costs at its autonomous vehicle division from US$2bn to US$1bn by mid-2025.
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GM cited the “considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business” and the pressures of an increasingly competitive market as the reasons for its withdrawal from the Cruise robotaxi business.
Last year, Honda announced it had agreed to establish a joint venture with GM and Cruise to provide driverless taxi services in Japan, based on Level 4 autonomous driving technologies. The joint venture was scheduled to begin commercial operations in early 2026, pending regulatory approvals.
Honda also said it plans to sell its minority stake in GM’s Cruise joint venture to the US automaker.
Despite an aging population and staffing shortages within the country’s transportation sector, Japan has fallen behind countries such as the US and China in introducing driverless taxis.
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