EqualOcean has learned that on August 4, Toyota China, Pony.ai（小马智行）, and GAC Toyota（广汽丰田） jointly held a signing ceremony, announcing their decision to establish a joint venture to promote the large-scale production and deployment of autonomous taxis, or Robotaxis.
The joint venture, expected to be established within the year, has secured an investment of over CNY one billion. The company plans to launch Toyota-branded electric vehicles, produced by GAC Toyota, as prototypes for Robotaxis. These vehicles will be equipped with Toyota's T-Pilot intelligent driving assistance system, featuring a pre-collision safety system (PCS). Furthermore, the joint venture will fully leverage the advantages of the Toyota Production System and the mature service operation system of GAC Toyota's dealers, to ensure the safe operation of unmanned Robotaxis.
As early as 2019, Toyota and Pony.ai initiated their collaboration, jointly developing advanced autonomous vehicles for mobility services in China. Currently, approximately 200 Robotaxis, based on the Lexus RX450h and Toyota Sienna models, are providing autonomous driving mobility services in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Shanghai through Pony.ai's operation platform.
Against the backdrop of the accelerating Chinese automotive market, electrification and intelligence have become the core of the development of the new energy vehicle industry. Toyota China, GAC Toyota, and Pony.ai will strive to promote the commercialization of Robotaxis in the Chinese market, providing safe and convenient mobility services for the general public, while realizing a carbon-neutral society and the mission vision of "Mobility for All".
Data from 2020 showed that the penetration rate of autonomous vehicles in the passenger car market was about 15%. According to a report by IHS Markit, it is expected that by 2025, the penetration rate of L2 and above level autonomous driving systems in the Chinese passenger car market will reach 34.2%, with an average annual growth rate of 3.84%, indicating massive growth potential.
Chinese companies have been actively participating in the research and development and operations of autonomous driving. "China Internet Weekly" recently released the "2023 Autonomous Driving Enterprise Rankings", with companies such as Baidu Apollo（百度Apollo）, Huawei（华为）, Unicom Intelligent Network Technology（联通智网科技）, MOGO（蘑菇车联）, TuSimple（图森未来）, Momenta, WeRide（文远知行）, PlusAI（智加科技）, AutoX, and DEEPROUTE.AI（元戎启行） all making the list.
In April 2023, Toyota Sienna Autono-MaaS vehicles, equipped with the sixth-generation L4 autonomous driving hardware and software system from Pony.ai, began open road testing in Beijing and Guangzhou. Currently, Pony.ai has achieved commercial operation of L4 level Robotaxis.