General Motors

GM is pulling the plug on funding Cruise robotaxis, and that alone cuts spending by more than 1 billion dollars a year once the restructuring wraps up in the first half of 2025. Instead of burning cash chasing driverless taxis, that money can flow to trucks, SUVs, and shareholders. It is one of the cleanest cost cuts a big automaker has made in years.

Super Cruise, GM's hands-off driving feature, is now offered on more than 20 GM vehicle models and drivers are logging over 10 million miles a month with it. GM is folding the Cruise engineers into its main team to push this further. Software features like this cost little to deliver once built, so every new subscriber is close to pure profit.

GM makes cars, and cars are a brutally low-profit business. Net margins sit at just 1.4 percent, meaning GM keeps barely more than a penny of every dollar it brings in. Any hiccup in demand, raw material costs, or factory shutdowns can wipe out that thin cushion fast.

Walking away from robotaxis saves money, but it also means GM is stepping back from a market rivals are still racing to win. GM plans to buy out the remaining Cruise shares to lift its stake above 97 percent, and restructuring charges could land differently than management expects. If self-driving taxis do take off, GM will be watching from the sidelines.