Autonomous tech developer TuSimple Holdings could sell its U.S. operations, the company announced Thursday.
The trucking startup is exploring possible transactions, such as a sale, for the U.S. portion of its business. It’s retained Perella Weinberg Partners as a financial advisor on the matter.
The change could make TuSimple shift its priorities to the global market, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region and other areas, the company said.
“If a transaction involving the U.S.-based business occurs, TuSimple will continue to be a global Level 4 autonomous driving technology company with greater emphasis on Asia-Pacific and other major global markets,” the company said.
The San Diego-based company is seeking to develop Level 4 autonomous technology for long-haul heavy-duty trucks, in which vehicles are capable of operating independently in limited conditions. The startup met a milestone in late 2021 by operating a truck without a driver, but TuSimple is still working to commercialize operations.
But amid that push, financial challenges have disrupted the company.
Last December, the company lost one of its biggest development deals: TuSimple and Navistar ended an agreement to mass produce autonomous trucks for sale in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The company began drastically reducing its workforce in December, cutting 25%. In May, TuSimple said it would make another reduction, this time affecting approximately 30% of its workforce, or 300 workers, by the end of 2023.
“As we relaunch TuSimple, we have taken a variety of factors into consideration including further deterioration of global economic growth, significantly reduced capital availability in the self-driving industry and redundant hardware availability," Cheng Lu, president and CEO of TuSimple, said in a May 18 statement.
To further complicate matters, TuSimple faces a delisting from the Nasdaq Stock Market for failing to file its Q1 2023, 2022 annual and Q3 2022 reports in a timely manner.
At the same time, the company has highlighted its efforts abroad. Earlier this month, the company said it “successfully completed China's first fully autonomous semi-truck run on open public roads without a human in the vehicle and without human intervention.” The autonomous trip was roughly 39 miles and took place near Shanghai.
