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Curious about the corporate structure behind this. Is Cruise a subdivision of GM or is it an independent company with GM just being majority shareholder?

onetimemanytime 7y ago
almost certainly a separate corp, with GM and others having shares and agreements.
thenewwazoo 7y ago
Cruise is a separate, privately-held corporation that is partially owned by GM (I'm not sure if they're majority or not any more).
- notfromhere 7y ago
  GM owns like 80%. I think the plan is to IPO it at some point, but if its actually successful I can't see why they wouuldn't just make it a decision. There's probably some value in locking themselves in as the exclusive provider of Cruise-enabled cars
  - zaphirplane 7y ago
    Well the fact they are getting funding from Honda says Economy of scale and bigger r&d with a shared platform is better than getting out innovated by Uber/google
    - echelon 7y ago
      Why would Honda invest in a company 80% controlled by a competitor? Why would GM let Honda invest?
      - thenewwazoo 7y ago
        https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/3/17931786/gm-cruise-honda-investment-self-driving-car https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/3/17931786/gm-cruise-honda-...
        perfunctory 7y ago
        I don’t think the article answers the question.
      - govg 7y ago
        Self driving right now is a moonshot for many of these companies, and competing with the resources that Google can throw at (both in terms of AI talent as well as sheer money) can be tough. Partnering with GM allows Honda a piece of this, allows for future adoption, and consolidates both of their revenues. If Cruise does become successful, the thought process might be that both Honda and GM obtain the tech therein, and differentiate themselves via other methods. Imagine this to be a new engine type that is too costly for just one manufacturer to research, and so they partner up with the implication that both get usage rights once the engine is done.
    - saalweachter 7y ago
      Three advantages that jump out at me: 1. Stability for the project. A self-driving R&D project internal to a larger company risks getting killed over the N years it takes to do the work without any payoff. 2. The investment probably looks better on the parent corporations budgets. They aren't sinking billions of dollars into R&D, they're investing in a third party which is sinking billions into R&D. The shares might even look good, if non-liquid, on paper. 3. Segments liability away from the larger company. When all self-driving cars in the world make a left turn at the same time due to an obscure calendar bug, it's just GM Cruise that gets sued out of existence.
      - thenewwazoo 7y ago
        It's also an easier sell to potential hires. You get RSUs in Cruise, not stock in GM, which a tech worker may not like the look of.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
Shivetya 7y ago
I am still awaiting Tesla so spin off the autonomous driving group at some point to limit liability

onetimemanytime 7y ago

almost certainly a separate corp, with GM and others having shares and agreements.

thenewwazoo 7y ago

Cruise is a separate, privately-held corporation that is partially owned by GM (I'm not sure if they're majority or not any more).

notfromhere 7y ago
GM owns like 80%. I think the plan is to IPO it at some point, but if its actually successful I can't see why they wouuldn't just make it a decision. There's probably some value in locking themselves in as the exclusive provider of Cruise-enabled cars
- zaphirplane 7y ago
  Well the fact they are getting funding from Honda says Economy of scale and bigger r&d with a shared platform is better than getting out innovated by Uber/google
  - echelon 7y ago
    Why would Honda invest in a company 80% controlled by a competitor? Why would GM let Honda invest?
    - thenewwazoo 7y ago
      https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/3/17931786/gm-cruise-honda-investment-self-driving-car https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/3/17931786/gm-cruise-honda-...
      - perfunctory 7y ago
        I don’t think the article answers the question.
    - govg 7y ago
      Self driving right now is a moonshot for many of these companies, and competing with the resources that Google can throw at (both in terms of AI talent as well as sheer money) can be tough. Partnering with GM allows Honda a piece of this, allows for future adoption, and consolidates both of their revenues. If Cruise does become successful, the thought process might be that both Honda and GM obtain the tech therein, and differentiate themselves via other methods. Imagine this to be a new engine type that is too costly for just one manufacturer to research, and so they partner up with the implication that both get usage rights once the engine is done.
  - saalweachter 7y ago
    Three advantages that jump out at me: 1. Stability for the project. A self-driving R&D project internal to a larger company risks getting killed over the N years it takes to do the work without any payoff. 2. The investment probably looks better on the parent corporations budgets. They aren't sinking billions of dollars into R&D, they're investing in a third party which is sinking billions into R&D. The shares might even look good, if non-liquid, on paper. 3. Segments liability away from the larger company. When all self-driving cars in the world make a left turn at the same time due to an obscure calendar bug, it's just GM Cruise that gets sued out of existence.
    - thenewwazoo 7y ago
      It's also an easier sell to potential hires. You get RSUs in Cruise, not stock in GM, which a tech worker may not like the look of.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

Shivetya 7y ago

I am still awaiting Tesla so spin off the autonomous driving group at some point to limit liability