GM pulls plug on robotaxi [Video]

NEW YORK –

General Motors is pulling the plug on its efforts to develop a fleet of driverless taxis and will focus on driver-assistance features that require a driver to be ready to take control of the car, the company said Tuesday.

GM said it needs to drop robotaxi efforts “given the considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business, along with an increasingly competitive robotaxi market.”

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It said it will instead focus on driver assistance features rather than fully automous vehicles; developing a fleet of robotaxis would have required more than US$10 billion, the company added.

GM faces competition in the robotaxi market from Google’s Waymo unit in partnership withUber, let alone ride-hailing and taxi services that use human drivers. And earlier this fall, Tesla announced plans for new driverless vehicles without steering wheels, brakes or …