General Motors announced one of its next goals is to bring autonomy to the world.

In 2016 GM invested in Cruise, the San Francisco-based company leading the way when it comes to electric autonomous vehicles.

Alongside Cruise and Honda, GM announced a memorandum of understanding to establish a new joint venture (JV) company to launch a driverless ridehail service in Japan starting in early 2026.

A People-Centric Vehicle

The opportunity for the ridehail service in Japan, which is expected to be the first of its kind, is huge. Japan has the potential to be one of the largest driverless ridehail markets in the world as large cities experience high demand for taxis.

The region also has a growing need for new forms of transportation, with ongoing driver shortages and an increasing need for accessible forms of transportation.

To address these needs, the JV will leverage the Origin, a people-centric vehicle co-developed by GM, Cruise, and Honda specifically for autonomous transportation.

The vehicle allows for six passengers to sit face-to-face, enabling customers to travel in a new way comfortably.

Transforming the Way People Move

In developing the Origin, GM, Cruise, and Honda each brought our unique skillsets and talents to the manufacturing, software, and development process.

GM will manufacture approximately 500 Origins to launch this new JV at Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Michigan, the launchpad for GM’s multi-brand EV and AV future.

GM believes autonomous vehicles can transform the way people move around the world.

We’ve only just begun to see this with Cruise ridehail services in San Francisco, Austin and Phoenix accumulating 5 million driverless miles and over 100,000 five-star rides.

GM stated it’s excited to work with Cruise as they launch autonomous vehicles in 12 additional announced markets in the U.S. and customers take their first rides and experience the future of transportation.