Kyle Vogt resigned as chief executive of General Motors Co.’s autonomous driving unit, Cruise LLC, following the loss of its license to operate driverless cars in the state of California.
Vogt, who confirmed his departure in a post on X late Sunday, said he plans to spend time with his family and explore some new ideas.
“Cruise is still just getting started, and I believe it has a great future ahead,” he said. Vogt was formally made Cruise’s CEO in February 2022, after his predecessor, Dan Ammann, left in December 2021.
Cruise, rife with regulatory, legal and reputational problems, said last month it would cease operations in all four cities where it charges for rides after its license was suspended by California. That sapped what little revenue there was from a business GM CEO Mary Barra projected would bring in $1 billion in fares by 2025 and help double GM’s sales to $240 billion in seven years. Instead, Cruise burned through $1.4 billion of the $1.7 billion in cash on hand this year.
The company had 400 cars operating in San Francisco and a further 200 in Austin, Houston and Phoenix.
Mo Elshenawy, currently executive vice president of engineering, will serve as president and CTO, Cruise said in an emailed statement. Craig Glidden will serve as president and continue as chief administrative officer for Cruise, as announced last week, the company said.
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