On Monday, an executive at Cruise, a driverless taxi subsidiary of General Motors Co (GM), said that Cruise has also focused on cost-cutting this year as rising losses at self-driving car companies have raised investor concerns that have forced some of the companies involved to close their plants.。

Gil West, chief operating officer of Cruise, said at a technical conference: "We will continue to study hardware and software, including component costs and the number of components on vehicles, and continue to reduce costs in the future.。"。

It is reported that GM burned nearly $2 billion for Cruise in the last year, and Gil West has not disclosed details about this year's estimated spending.。The main reason for the high cost is that the technology involves cumbersome regulations, arduous technology, and related safety investigations, and the introduction of fully autonomous vehicles has not been as fast as initially expected.。

Ford Motor Co and Volkswagen AG announced last fall that they would shut down the Argo AI autonomous driving system to focus on driver assistance technology that offers more immediate rewards.。

Meanwhile, Waymo, the self-driving technology division of Cruise's rival Alphabet, also laid off more than 8 percent of its workforce this year.。

Gil West said Cruise has started a limited service in San Francisco, where the company has a small fleet of Chevrolet Bolts equipped with driverless technology and has accumulated more than 1 million driverless miles.。

In addition, the company is also developing a fully autonomous car called Origin, which does not require a steering wheel and is equipped with subway-like doors for ride and delivery。

Origin is in the final stages of certification and is ready to begin full production, a major breakthrough for the company this year, Gil West said.。

For Cruise's follow-on development, Gil West said the company is progressing relatively well, with most of the challenges, including technical challenges and regulatory licensing, progressing in an orderly manner, and expects these issues to be resolved by 2023, helping the company expand and grow rapidly.。"This is a very critical year for us, and it will not only change Cruise, but also change the overall perception of self-driving cars.。"West said.。