WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - A subsidiary of a German

auto supplier has asked U.S. auto safety regulators for approval

to deploy up to 2,500 autonomous electric buses annually that

are operated without steering wheels and other human controls, a

U.S. agency said Thursday.

HOLON, a unit of German automotive supplier Benteler Group,

asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for an

exemption from federal auto safety standards for its automated

electric bus that does not have pedals, manual turn signals or

mirrors needed by a human driver.

NHTSA said it will accept public comments on the petition

until early January.

The petition, which will not see final action before

President Donald Trump takes office, could shed light on how the

new administration approaches self-driving vehicles. NHTSA has

taken a cautious approach in recent years.

HOLON said the vehicle's autonomous driving system was

collaboratively developed by HOLON and Mobileye.

In July, General Motors' ( GM ) Cruise self-driving unit

said it would abandon plans to deploy its self-driving Origin

vehicle that would not have a steering wheel. Ford last

year abandoned a similar petition.

In 2022, GM filed a petition with NHTSA seeking permission

to deploy up to 2,500 self-driving Origin vehicles annually

without human controls such as brake pedals or mirrors. NHTSA

never acted on the request and GM cited regulatory risks for its

decision to abandon the Origin.

GM will instead use a conventional next-generation Bolt EV

as the platform for its Cruise robotaxi, a move that will not

require permission of NHTSA.

HOLON said in September it plans to assemble 5,000 vehicles

per year at a 500,000-square-foot facility in Jacksonville,

Florida, expected to be completed in 2026.

In February 2020, NHTSA gave a first of its kind approval

after three years of talks to U.S. robotics company Nuro to

deploy up to 5,000 low-speed electric delivery vehicles without

human controls.