Shares in Chinese autonomous driving group Pony.ai (PONY) accelerated today as it revealed plans to step up autonomous truck production.
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Thousands of Trucks Planned
The group said it was partnering with SANY Heavy Trucks and Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor to jointly develop a fourth-generation family of automated trucks. The first two models will be based on the partners’ most advanced all-electric platforms with plans to mass-produce 1000 units.
According to Pony.ai, the aim is to advance autonomous trucking technology and accelerate the industry’s move toward large-scale unmanned commercial operations. It will also help to boost its ailing stock price – see below:
It said its fourth-generation autonomous truck kit will use entirely automotive-grade components and share most parts with its next-generation Robotaxi system. This, it said, would cut the per-vehicle autonomous driving Bill of Materials (BOM) cost by roughly 70% compared with the previous generation.
Earlier this month, Pony.ai and Shenzhen Xihu Group launched the first batch of seventh-generation L4 autonomous driving vehicles or as they are otherwise known – Robotaxis – in Shenzhen for application trials. This is the city’s first intelligent connected vehicle pilot project.
Robotaxi Production Milestone
In October, it announced that it had reached a significant production milestone with the completion of its 300th ARCFOX Alpha T5 Robotaxi, developed in partnership with Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation. This achievement, it said, is a crucial step towards their goal of a 1,000-vehicle fleet by the end of the year.
The autonomous driving space is becoming increasingly crowded with the likes of Alphabet (GOOGL)-owned Waymo, fellow U.S. group Tesla (TSLA), which recently unveiled its Cybercab to Chinese audiences as well as domestic players such as Baidu (BIDU).
The race to produce autonomous trucks is also getting more congested with the likes of Swedish company Einride getting ready to launch an IPO to fund more investment.
According to the American Trucking Association, nearly 15 million trucks transported about 72.7% of the nation’s freight last year, generating roughly $906 billion in revenue. In North America alone, the autonomous trucking market is projected to reach $65.4 billion within a decade.
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