Chinese autonomous driving firm Pony.ai is betting on an asset-light strategy and newer generations of low-cost driverless cars to drive growth for its robotaxi operation, expecting to break even by 2030. Under this model, the company will team up with third-party firms like taxi operators or ride-hailing platforms to fund fleet deployments. Last month, it expanded its partnership with Sunlight Mobility, which operates in over 180 cities, to launch an initial robotaxi fleet in Guangzhou.
Guangzhou-based Pony.ai, a Chinese autonomous driving technology firm, is opting out of owning fleets directly. Instead, it will sell driverless cars to third parties, license its autonomous driving technology and fleet-management expertise for a fee, and take a cut of fares. “We expect the asset-light model to enable more efficient [fleet] expansion for us,” chief financial officer Leo Wang Haojun said on Thursday.
Last month, Pony.ai expanded its partnership with Chinese ride-hailing firm Sunlight Mobility, which operates in more than 180 cities, to deploy an initial robotaxi fleet in Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong province. The fleet will use Pony.ai’s seventh-generation vehicles and is scheduled to launch by the end of the year, with plans to expand to more Chinese cities.
The company’s recent announcement that it had broken even in Guangzhou on a per-vehicle basis was a major draw for mobility operators, Wang said. This news validated the model and signalled the increasing sustainability of robotaxi commercialisation. Pony.ai also collaborates with partners like GAC Group, Toyota, and BAIC Group, advancing services in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shenzhen, and Beijing, though the focus remains on mainland China expansion.
