Dive Brief:
- Autonomous vehicle startup Motional will implement “staff reductions” that will affect less than 5% of non-technical employees, a company spokesperson confirmed in an email Wednesday. TechCrunch first reported the news.
- The company will continue to develop its technology and grow its ride-hailing services, the spokesperson said.
- It’s the latest autonomous vehicle company to face financial challenges as the technology comes under increasing scrutiny.
Dive Insight:
The Boston-based startup is a joint venture between Hyundai and automotive supplier Aptiv founded in March 2020 to develop and commercialize autonomous vehicles.
Motional has tested and refined its technology by operating robotaxis in Las Vegas with Lyft since 2018 and Uber since 2022. In November, Motional and Hyundai announced that the Ioniq 5 robotaxi was one of the first SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicles certified under the U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
But in January, Reuters reported that Aptiv would no longer fund Motional as the company burned through cash. Aptiv said it would reduce its 50% stake in the joint venture. The company, however, remains optimistic about its long-term prospects.
“We’re confident in our funding roadmap and are well positioned for the next phase of our commercialization,” the Motional spokesperson said.
Other autonomous driving joint ventures have faced challenges in scaling the technology. In the fall, Cruise overhauled its executive leadership and laid off 24% of its workforce following a serious pedestrian injury in San Francisco by one of its self-driving vehicles. In January, General Motors announced it would reduce its spending on Cruise by $1 billion after the unit lost $2.7 billion last year.
Ford Motor Co. and the Volkswagen Group also dissolved their autonomous driving joint venture Argo AI in October 2022 after the two companies invested a combined $3.6 billion in the company to scale autonomous driving technology for use by both automakers.
In addition to its Boston headquarters, Motional has offices in Pittsburgh; Las Vegas; Venice and Milpitas, California; Singapore and Seoul.
