© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Kyle Vogt, chief technology officer, president & co-founder of Cruise, a Honda and General Motors self-driving car partnership, speaks on stage at the launch of the Cruise Origin autonomous vehicle in San Francisco, California, U.S. January 21
(Reuters) – General Motors (NYSE:) is finishing production on a small number of its pre-commercial fully autonomous van the Cruise Origin, after which the automaker plans to temporarily pause its production, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Monday.
The Cruise Origin vehicle was jointly developed by GM, Cruise and Honda (NYSE:). The Japan service will likely be launched in central Tokyo using dozens of Origins before expanding to a fleet of 500 vehicles, Honda said last month.
The move was first reported by Forbes, citing an audio of Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt’s address at an all-hands meeting.
Vogt, according to Forbes, told staff during the meeting that the company has produced hundreds of Origin vehicles already, and that it is “more than enough for the near-term when we are ready to ramp things back up.”
The move comes after Cruise, the driverless car unit of General Motors, suspended all operations nationwide after California regulators ordered the robotaxi operator to remove its driverless cars from state roads.
California regulators suspended the company’s license to operate driverless vehicles last month, saying self-driving vehicles were a risk to the public.
