Honda all set to launch their own self-driving cab service in Japan by 2026, announces CEO

Honda Motor has announced its plan to collaborate with General Motors and Cruise to launch a driverless ride service in Japan by early 2026. The companies are working towards establishing this joint venture in the first half of 2024, pending regulatory approvals. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed, as stated by Honda in a recent statement.

Cruise, which is GM’s robotaxi division, presently provides limited ride services in San Francisco. In the same vein, Alphabet’s Waymo, a competitor to Cruise, also operates ride services. Notably, Honda had previously disclosed its commitment to invest $2 billion in Cruise over a span of 12 years back in 2018.

This collaboration highlights the continued efforts of automakers and technology companies to bring autonomous driving technology to market and develop driverless ride services, indicating a significant stride in the development of self-driving vehicles and mobility solutions in Japan.

The companies hope to commercialise autonomous vehicles at scale in Japan with the joint venture, said Cruise’s chief executive, Kyle Vogt, adding the company was already operating commercially in four cities in the United States.

Vogt said it was hard to say whether offering a driverless ride service in Tokyo posed a unique or distinct challenge for the company.

“I will say in San Francisco, we do see go-karts. We see people juggling. We see donkeys in the street in Austin where we test, and so the range of the situation that our AVs (autonomous vehicles) have encountered is quite broad,” he said.

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The Cruise Origin vehicle was jointly developed by GM, Cruise and Honda. The Japan service is planned to launch in central Tokyo, using dozens of Origins before expanding to a fleet of 500 vehicles, Honda said in its statement.

Honda Chief Executive Officer Toshihiro Mibe said the company will use Chevrolet Bolts in the run up to starting the service in the Japanese capital before deploying the Origins.

The companies plan to later broaden the service to areas beyond central Tokyo, Honda said.

Customers will use a smartphone application to hail rides and make payments, according to the statement.

US auto safety regulators earlier this week opened a probe into whether Cruise is taking sufficient precautions with its autonomous robotaxis to safeguard pedestrians.

Commenting on the probe, Vogt said safety was the company’s top priority, adding that it would help regulators with the “very difficult” job of regulating emerging technologies like this.

“Mechanisms like this, preliminary investigations, are one of the tools that regulators use to learn more about the technology and to understand its impact,” he said.

(With input from agencies)