Honda adds weight to GM and Cruise autonomous project

Japanese automotive giant Honda is partnering with General Motors and its subsidiary Cruise Automation to develop a new autonomous vehicle.

GM purchased technology startup Cruise in 2016 and the San Francisco-based company now forms the core of GM’s autonomous endeavours. Honda, which has previously collaborated with GM on electric vehicles, will now join forces with the two US firms to develop a purpose-built autonomous vehicle for Cruise. According to the partners, the new vehicle will serve a multitude of uses, will be built at scale, and will be deployed globally.

“This is the logical next step in General Motors and Honda’s relationship, given our joint work on electric vehicles, and our close integration with Cruise,” said General Motors chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “Together, we can provide Cruise with the world’s best design, engineering and manufacturing expertise, and global reach to establish them as the leader in autonomous vehicle technology – while they move to deploy self-driving vehicles at scale.”