Stellantis Hits the Brakes on Self-Driving Cars

Stellantis, the big car company, has decided to hit pause on its plans to launch advanced self-driving technology. They had big dreams of rolling out Level 3 autonomous driving, which would let drivers take their hands off the wheel in busy city areas. But now, they say the market just isn't ready for it. This isn't a total stop, though. Stellantis is still working on improving its current driver assistance tech, like hands-free driving on certain roads. They're also teaming up with suppliers and using aiMotive, a tech startup they bought, to keep developing their AutoDrive program. Why the change of plans? High costs, tech challenges, and not enough people wanting this level of automation. It's not all smooth sailing for Stellantis. They've had issues with software glitches in their electric vehicles and even ended a big partnership with Amazon on in-car tech. But don't count them out yet. They're still betting big on tech, especially in-car software. They think there's a lot of potential in things like voice assistants and route planning. It's a tough road, but Stellantis is still driving forward, just not as fast as they planned.