General Motors shares fall for a second straight session on Wednesday, GM Cruise reveals “Cruise Origin”, a driverless prototype electric vehicle

Cruise, General Motors Co’s (GM) self-driving vehicle division, revealed earlier this week a prototype electric vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals, named “Cruise Origin” and developed in cooperation with Honda Motor Co Ltd.

General Motors shares closed lower for a second consecutive trading session in New York on Wednesday. The stock edged down 0.23% ($0.08) to $34.91, after touching an intraday low at $34.87, or a price level not seen since January 13th ($34.49).

Shares of General Motors Company have retreated 4.62% so far in 2020 compared with a 2.82% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2019, General Motors’ stock went up 9.42%, thus, it again underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 28.88% gain.

Dan Ammann, Cruise’s Chief Executive Officer, said that the Origin, sized almost like a large SUV, would be used for Cruise’s own ride-sharing service, but he announced no time frame for its launch.

Ammann said that the Origin was a “fully engineered vehicle that’s on its way to production.” However, he added he was still expecting a permission from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to deploy a vehicle with no human controls on public roads.

Alphabet Inc’s Waymo is the sole company, which has been permitted to test self-driving vehicles without a safety driver.

Ammann also said that prototypes of the vehicle would probably be tested at private facilities in 2020, while production-related costs of one Cruise Origin were expected to be half those of a high-end electric Sports-utility vehicle.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 16 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding General Motors Company’s stock price, have a median target of $47.00, with a high estimate of $68.00 and a low estimate of $34.00. The median estimate represents a 34.63% upside compared to the closing price of $34.91 on January 22nd.

The same media also reported that at least 12 out of 18 surveyed investment analysts had rated General Motors Company’s stock as “Buy”, while 4 – as “Hold”.