The General Motors subsidiary Cruise is “on the cusp” of mass-producing a driverless vehicle designed to transport up to six passengers.

Cruise Origin doesn’t have manual steering controls or pedals and is designed to operate entirely through autonomous technology.

The website IoT News reports it has faced a “significant hurdle’ obtaining approval from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to secure an exemption from the existing federal safety standards, which were formulated with traditional vehicles in mind, but that recent statements from Kyle Vogt, the CEO of Cruise, suggest that this lengthy waiting game may soon reach its conclusion.

It quotes him telling the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference in San Francisco: “We are — from what we’ve heard from NHTSA — just days away from the last regulatory approval, which would let us start production and almost immediately start putting these vehicles on the road.”

However, the NHTSA has not officially confirmed any timeline for its decision.

(Picture – Cruise)