China-based autonomous driving company WeRide (文远知行) has partnered with Geely Farizon New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group (吉利远程) and Hong Kong public transport operator Kwoon Chung Bus Holdings to jointly develop a purpose-built robotaxi for right-hand-drive markets—a segment that currently has no commercially available product.
The agreement was signed on June 22 at the 2026 International Automotive & Supply Chain Expo in Hong Kong. The new vehicle will be based on WeRide and Geely Farizon's existing mass-produced GXR platform, which has already achieved fully driverless commercial operations in four cities: Guangzhou, Beijing, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai. Hong Kong will be the first deployment market, with commercial services planned locally before expanding to Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Australia—markets where contracts have already been secured, according to WeRide.
The partnership divides responsibilities across the commercial chain: WeRide provides autonomous driving technology and operational experience across 12 countries; Geely Farizon supplies the vehicle platform and manufacturing capability as China's top new energy commercial vehicle brand; Kwoon Chung Bus Holdings, one of Hong Kong's largest public transport operators, handles local deployment and regulatory navigation. "Hong Kong will set a benchmark for smart transportation upgrades in right-hand-drive markets globally," said Mike Fan (范现瑞), CEO of Geely Farizon. Dr. Tony Han (韩旭), Founder and CEO of WeRide, called the collaboration "an important breakthrough for autonomous driving in dense, complex urban environments."
The right-hand-drive gap is structural. Global autonomous driving deployments have been overwhelmingly left-hand-drive—concentrated in China, the United States, and the Middle East—leaving the UK, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and much of Southeast Asia without a robotaxi product adapted to their traffic systems. This is not merely a steering-wheel relocation: right-hand-drive markets impose different regulatory frameworks, road layouts, and urban density patterns that require distinct sensor placement, decision-making logic, and vehicle validation protocols. Hong Kong's densely populated urban environment and international regulatory framework make it a practical testing ground whose validation data is transferable to other right-hand-drive cities.
The commercial opportunity across right-hand-drive markets is dispersed but collectively significant. The UK has over 40 million licensed vehicles; Japan operates one of the world's largest taxi fleets; Singapore's controlled urban geography is well-suited for autonomous deployment. By validating a single right-hand-drive platform in Hong Kong, WeRide can serve multiple markets without duplicating engineering effort—a model that mirrors the global expansion path Chinese smartphone manufacturers took, but with the added complexity of securing autonomous driving regulatory approval in each jurisdiction separately.
For Hong Kong, the deployment addresses local pain points. Kwoon Chung Bus Holdings cited rising fuel costs and a persistent bus driver shortage as motivations—problems common across dense Asian cities where public transport labor costs are rising faster than revenues. If the Hong Kong rollout demonstrates reliable autonomous operation in one of the world's most congested urban environments, it could accelerate regulatory approval in other right-hand-drive jurisdictions where authorities have so far been cautious about permitting driverless operations. WeRide plans to expand its global fleet to 2,600 vehicles by the end of 2026 and scale to tens of thousands by 2030.