Cruise, the self-driving vehicle unit controlled by General Motors, has dismissed nine top executives, including Chief Operating Officer Gil West and the heads of legal affairs.
The company is trying to regain the trust of regulators and the public following an investigation by California regulators into an incident in which one of its cars struck and dragged a pedestrian for 20 feet. Regulators say the company withheld a key video that showed the pedestrian under the car.
The departure of the nine executives was announced in an internal memo sent to employees. It follows the exit of Chief Executive Officer Kyle Vogt and the grounding of the company’s robotaxi fleet in the three states where it was operating. The company also faces potential fines for not disclosing all details of the accident.
In addition to West, government affairs head David Estrada and Chief Legal Officer Jeffrey Bleich also left, said people familiar with the matter. So did Prashanthi Raman, vice president of global government affairs.
Since having its license suspended in California in October and halting operations in Texas and Arizona, GM has taken a bigger hand in running the company. The automaker’s General Counsel Craig Glidden is now co-president along with Cruise’s Mo Elshenawy.
