Honda, GM and Cruise together are developing an autonomous driverless taxi project to be used in Japan.
Cruise, General Motors Company (GM) and Honda Motor Company have entered into a partnership agreement with the aim of establishing a joint venture that will launch taxi services with driverless cars in Japan in early 2026.
The new taxi service will use Cruise Origin driverless vehicles jointly developed by GM, Cruise and Honda, which will pick up customers at a designated location and take them to their destination, fully autonomously.
Customers will use a dedicated app on their smartphones to complete the entire process from call to payment. Cruise Origin is a self-driving vehicle without a driver’s seat or steering wheel. It contains a large space in the cabin that can be as private as a personally owned vehicle and that allows 6 people to ride at the same time, face to face.
This driverless transportation service will offer a completely new type of mobility experience in Japan and target a wide range of customers, including business people, families, visitors and others. The three companies plan to launch a driverless transportation service in central Tokyo in early 2026. The service will start with dozens of Cruise Origins vehicles and then expand to a fleet of 500 cars. The three companies plan to subsequently expand and extend the service to areas outside of central Tokyo.
Source: Japan Times