BEIJING, May 26 (Reuters) – Chinese autonomous driving company Pony.ai has not been affected by a national safety review following a robotaxi outage involving rival Baidu’s Apollo Go, and is pushing ahead with expansion into more cities, its CEO said on Tuesday.
China paused approvals for new autonomous vehicle licenses after Apollo Go’s robotaxis abruptly stopped on streets in Wuhan in late March, Bloomberg reported.
The review focuses on how companies and local authorities ensure the safe operation of autonomous driving systems, James Peng, Pony.ai’s co-founder and CEO, told Reuters. Pony.ai has already completed all the evaluations and its business “has not been impacted”, he added.
Peng clarified that the safety review did not entail a suspension of licenses and therefore the Guangzhou-based company is “in the process of launching into more cities” and plans to expand its fleet, he said.
Pony.ai said it aims to grow its robotaxi fleet to 3,500 vehicles by the end of the year, from more than 1,700 currently, raising its earlier target of 3,000 by 16.7%, according to a statement.
It also expects full-year robotaxi revenue to exceed 3.5 times the levels in 2025, up from an earlier forecast of 3 times.
The company posted its strongest quarter in terms of revenue from its core robotaxi services, which rose almost fivefold to $8.6 million in the first three months. Total revenue was up 145% from a year earlier to $34.3 million.
“The whole industry still faces a lot of uncertainties, but at least we see strong momentum in fleet deployment both domestically and internationally,” Peng said.
Pony.ai’s net loss widened to $53.5 million in the first quarter from $37.4 million a year earlier. The company posted its first-ever profitable quarter in Q4, primarily driven by investment gains.
Pony.ai, along with domestic peers Baidu and WeRide, which together operate the world’s largest robotaxi fleets, is still building its presence overseas.
Key cities across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East are set to see a mix of U.S., Chinese and local players competing for fleet trials, deployments and market share, said Counterpoint’s senior analyst Murtuza Ali.
The UK could be a key battleground, with Baidu exploring opportunities through partnerships with Uber and Lyft, while Alphabet’s Waymo and British self-driving startup Wayve are also targeting the market.
Describing the UK as “a very interesting market”, Peng said his company is looking at the opportunity but “not confirming anything yet.”
(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li and Liz LeeEditing by Bernadette Baum and Chiara Rodriquez)
