Articles by Julia Love and David Welch

GM’s Cruise Prepares to Resume Robotaxi Testing After Halt

General Motors Co.’s Cruise autonomous driving unit is nearing the resumption of robotaxi testing in the coming weeks, with Houston and Dallas emerging as potential locations, following the grounding of its fleet last year, according to people with knowledge of …

GM’s Cruise Owns Up to Robotaxi Mess in Hopes of Returning to Roads

General Motors Co. blamed poor leadership for mishandling its Cruise robotaxi crisis, an admission the carmaker is hoping will help get its cars back on the roads. A report by the law firm Quinn Emanuel, hired by GM and Cruise, …

Art Collector Says Van Gogh Painting on Display in Detroit Museum Was Stolen From Him

In October, the Detroit Institute of Arts pulled back the curtains on its three-month Van Gogh exhibit, proudly boasting that its expo of 74 paintings was one of the largest-ever collections assembled of the Dutch master’s famous works. Now a …

Hertz Makes Settlement Offers to End False Arrest Lawsuits

Hertz Corp. has offered to settle about three dozen cases filed by renters that say they were wrongly arrested for auto theft, the company said.The settlement push comes after Colleen Batcheler took over as general counsel for the rental company. …

Michigan Flood Puts Privately Owned Dams in Harsh Spotlight

The dams that breached after days of heavy rain in central Michigan are privately owned and had been the center of controversy for several years. Now Governor Gretchen Whitmer is saying these critical facilities should not be in private hands. …

The State of Autonomous Driving: Shuttles vs. Moonshots in Big Stakes Race

May Mobility Inc.’s boxy white-and-green self-driving shuttle pulls up to a damp corner in downtown Detroit. Its big doors swing out revealing a safety driver and six seats that face each other. It’s more comfortable than a subway car or …

Nations with National Regulatory Policies Outpacing U.S. on Driverless Cars

Cars that drive themselves are finding the clearest paths to showrooms in the U.K., Germany, South Korea and Singapore, where governments have enacted legislation allowing autonomous vehicles to be tested on public roads. And China’s not far behind. Those nations …

After Uber Crash, Florida Still Welcomes Free-Range Robot Cars

Florida has been trying to lure self-driving cars to the state for testing on public roads, shaping laws that are much more lax than places like California and New York. The fatal accident last week in Arizona, another state that’s …

GM to Pilot Airbnb-Like Service for Autos This Summer

General Motors Co. plans to start a pilot program this summer that will enable car owners to rent out their vehicles when they aren’t using them, according to people familiar with the matter. The tests will begin in early summer …

Drivers Aren’t Going Away Anytime Soon, Say Driverless Car Leaders

Carmakers and tech companies have fallen over one another in recent weeks to show the strides they’ve made with self-driving cars. At CES — usually a stage for bragging about futuristic bona fides — top executives are instead tamping down …