Chinese self-driving company Pony.ai plans to significantly expand the size of its self-driving taxi fleet this year, with the goal of becoming profitable by 2029, the Wall Street Journal reported. Pony.ai CEO Peng Jun said in an interview on Wednesday that the company hopes to launch more than 1,000 self-driving taxis this year and plans to have more than 10,000 self-driving taxis on the road in the next three years. He said the company currently has more than 300 self-driving taxis in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
Expand scale
Last year, Pony.ai launched a fully driverless self-driving taxi service in several major Chinese cities, and a key focus for the company now is achieving profitability. Pony.ai is working with major automakers to speed up production of self-driving taxis and expand their fleets.
"The commercialization process of autonomous vehicles has started, but the key issue now is how to quickly expand the scale," Peng Jun said. "We established cooperative relationships with BAIC Group, Guangzhou Automobile Group and Toyota Motor last year, and will launch three models for the mass market this year."
He said that these cooperation will significantly reduce costs. "Including sensors, batteries and other auto parts, the cost of these self-driving taxis is only about 270,000 yuan, which is about $40,000."
profit time
Peng Jun revealed that these three models will be launched in the middle of this year, and the production scale and low cost will help support the profit margin of the self-driving taxi business. Pony.ai predicts that self-driving taxis will achieve breakeven per vehicle between 2025 and 2026.
Peng Jun said that when Pony.ai will become profitable depends on how quickly it launches self-driving taxis. "If current regulatory progress and technological developments are taken into account, the ramp-up rate may be faster and the company may become profitable before 2029."
Go to sea
Some Chinese self-driving taxi companies have been working hard to expand overseas, but Peng Jun believes that most international markets are relatively small, and these markets may pose greater regulatory obstacles.
"Given that this is the eve of large-scale commercial operations, our focus this year will be large markets." Peng Jun said. He said that China is a huge market, especially its first-tier cities, that can support the operation of self-driving taxis.
He said that Pony.ai’s next goal is not to view self-driving taxis as an experiment or an experience, but as a revolution in travel methods.
No financing required
In November 2024, Pony.ai was listed on Nasdaq and has raised approximately US$452 million in cash through IPO and private placement.
Although Pony.ai is still losing money, Peng Jun said the company's cash flow is "very healthy." "In the short term, we have no financing pressure." He said.