Feature Report: Robotaxi business in China

Recently, the global leading players in the Robotaxi industry have become clear.

Chinese companies in the industry are led by Baidu Apollo, Pony AI, AutoX, WeRide, and Didi, and the lead international players are Waymo and Zoox, Cruise, and Aurora, etc.

In the Robotaxi field, there are a lot more moving parts that need to be done. Currently, most of the companies are still software developing firms and provide only autonomous driving software services.

The final realization of autonomous driving still needs to adapt the software to specific hardware models. Aside from policy and technical thresholds, the cost is a key factor in the development of the Robotaxi industry: a Robotaxi may cost as low as $0.18 per mile, which is significantly lower compared to the average cost of Uber’s traditional carpool service ($1–2 per mile).

According to McKinsey’s forecast, China may be the world’s largest autonomous driving market.

By 2030, the total sales of autonomous vehicles will reach $230 billion, and the total value of the travel orders based on autonomous driving will reach $260 billion.

iResearch predicts that by 2022, the global penetration rate of autonomous driving at L1 to L5 levels will reach over 50%, and the global penetration rate of autonomous driving will increase to 70% by 2030.