Since the beginning of this year, the popularity of autonomous driving has been on the rise. Baidu's Apollo Go is out of the loop, and Tesla releases Robotaxi service; At the same time, autonomous driving concept stocks such as Horizon Robotics, Wenyuan Zhixing, Xiaoma Zhixing, and Ruqi Chuxing have been listed, accelerating the commercialization of autonomous driving.
Recently, Zhang Ning, Vice President of Xiaoma Zhixing and Head of Robotaxi Autonomous Driving Travel Business, and Mo Luyi, Vice President of Xiaoma Zhixing and General Manager of Guangzhou Company, stated in an interview with media such as Beijing News Shell Finance that Xiaoma Zhixing's Robotaxi operation scale will increase from over 200 vehicles to 1000 vehicles next year, and the company will strive to turn L4 technology into products and services for implementation after its IPO.
The scale of Xiaoma Zhixing Robotaxi has increased from over 200 vehicles to 1000 vehicles
Xiaoma Zhixing was founded in 2016, providing autonomous driving technology and solutions in the fields of travel and logistics for the global market, and developing "virtual driver" technology that can be applied to different vehicle models and application scenarios. According to the prospectus, the total mileage of Xiaoma Zhixing's autonomous driving road tests has accumulated nearly 40 million kilometers.
On the evening of November 27th, Xiaoma Zhixing was officially listed on NASDAQ with the stock code "PONY". For the main task of the company's development after going public, Zhang Ning introduced that for Xiaoma Zhixing, IPO is not the end point, but a small milestone. After going public, the company has more resources in hand, making it easier to raise funds in the market and having greater influence. But for the company, what needs to be done consistently is to find better talents and work together to turn L4 technology into products and services for implementation.
Xiaoma Zhixing launched Robotaxi service at the end of 2018. According to the prospectus, Xiaoma Zhixing has obtained Robotaxi licenses in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and currently operates a fleet of over 250 autonomous taxis. Among them, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen have already started commercial charging for fully autonomous driving services.
What are the considerations for increasing the operational scale of Xiaoma Zhixing from over 200 vehicles to 1000 vehicles next year? Zhang Ning introduced that in the past, the cost of bicycles was very high and the vehicle specifications and components were incomplete. Now, the policy foundation and supply chain foundation are gradually becoming complete. The real watershed for the commercial operation of Robotaxi is around 1000 vehicles, which gives it stronger bargaining power in the supply chain and enables it to achieve gross profit conversion in hardware costs.
According to the prospectus, the revenue scale of Xiaoma Zhixing in 2022, 2023, and the first half of 2024 will be $68.39 million, $71.9 million, and $24.72 million, respectively. The net losses before adjustment for the same period were $148 million, $125 million, and $51.78 million, respectively. As of June 30, 2024, the total amount of cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, and restricted cash was $473 million (approximately RMB 3.437 billion).
At present, Xiaoma Zhixing has fully cooperated with mainstream car manufacturers such as Toyota, GAC, FAW, SAIC, and Sany to jointly promote the research and development of autonomous vehicles. Xiaoma Zhixing currently has three main models.
According to Mo Luyi, the new generation of vehicles that she has collaborated with Toyota have already been tested on the road. At the same time, Xiaoma Zhixing and GAC Toyota are carrying out production line renovations to prepare for the early mass production of this car next year. The other two are domestically produced vehicle platforms that were officially announced in November and December, and have been closely cooperating with two major automakers, GAC and BAIC, constantly discussing overall technical solutions. Both cars are currently in the technical research and development stage with two host manufacturers, and the engineering teams of both parties are working together to accelerate the process.
It is expected that in about six months, the first batch of vehicles for two new generation domestic platforms will be deployed and tested in various places, including obtaining corresponding unmanned and commercial license plates. Currently, it is planned to see the scale commercialization of the new generation vehicles before the end of next year. The cost reduction of hardware kits is about 60% -70%, mainly due to the cost reduction brought by mass production, as well as the significant cost reduction brought by vehicle grade sensors, computing chips and other aspects, "Mo Luyi mentioned.
Robotaxi outperforms humans in speed and efficiency in non busy areas
The global autonomous driving market has broad prospects. According to Frost Sullivan's prediction, with technological advancements, favorable regulatory environments, and increased cost efficiency, Robotaxi services will be commercialized around 2026. China is expected to become the largest Robotaxi market, with market sizes expected to reach $200 million and $39 billion in 2025 and 2030, accounting for approximately 58.5% of the global autonomous driving travel service market by 2030.
Previously, Xiaoma Zhixing had also carried out autonomous driving technology and landing cooperation in South Korea, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other places. How is the progress of Xiaoma Zhixing's overseas layout? Mo Luyi mentioned that at the beginning of this year, we officially announced our landing plan in South Korea and soon began autonomous driving testing in Gangnam gu, Seoul. Starting next year, we will enter a stage of gradual development from testing to demonstration applications and demonstration operations. A new research and development center has also been established in Luxembourg this year, and vehicles will soon undergo road testing and subsequent landing operations in Europe. It is expected that autonomous vehicles will also land in the Middle East next year.
How do you view the incremental approach? Can L2 gradually evolve into L4? Zhang Ning believes that allowing L2 seeds to bear L4 fruits is too idealistic. There is a strong commonality between the technical points of L2 and L4, so many technical points can be reused. L4 is responsible for the results and is a product form of "safety first". Under different constraints, the cost space and goals to be achieved are completely different, and the final choices in the product will also be different.
At present, many companies are entering the Robotaxi track. In the process of large-scale product implementation, has Xiaoma Zhixing considered a differentiated route? Zhang Ning said that travel is a relatively universal demand, and when it reaches a certain scale, there are many spaces that can be customized and personalized in design. However, in the manufacturing industry, personalization and customization will inevitably lead to an increase in costs, so currently, design will be carried out in a relatively unified way, and differentiation routes are more likely to occur in dimensionality reduction scenarios.
Which one does Xiaoma Zhixing prefer for the comfort and efficiency of Robotaxi? Zhang Ning introduced that currently in the open demonstration zone, Robotaxis are mostly driven faster than people, especially at speeds above 60km/h, with an average speed of about 10% faster than people on highways. Our goal is to achieve 10 times higher human safety, currently far superior to human drivers, and faster and more efficient in non busy areas.
As more and more Robotaxis are deployed in cities, they will face a game with human drivers or a game between two Robotaxis. Zhang Ning believes that games are not necessarily a good thing, and in most cases, games only arise when the right of way is not followed. Perhaps in 10 years, most cars will become autonomous, and even have a certain central arbitration system, in order to reduce the potential risk of accidents caused by sudden start stop, racing, and card games.
Chen Weicheng, a reporter from Beike Finance of the New Beijing News