GM announced, alongside Cruise and Honda, a memorandum of understanding to establish a new joint venture (JV) company to launch a driverless ride-hail service in Japan starting in early 2026. Japan has the potential to be one of the largest driverless ride-hail markets in the world as large cities experience high demand for taxis, GM said. The region also has a growing need for new forms of transportation, with ongoing driver shortages and an increasing need for accessible forms of transportation. To address these needs, the JV will leverage the Origin, a people-centric vehicle co-developed by GM, Cruise and Honda specifically for autonomous transportation.

In developing the Origin, GM, Cruise and Honda said they each brought unique skillsets to the manufacturing, software and development process. GM will manufacture approximately 500 Origins for the launch of this new JV at Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Michigan, the launchpad for GM’s multi-brand EV and AV future.