Toyota and Pony.ai plan China JV to build electric robotaxis
Toyota is planning a joint venture in China with the American-Chinese company Pony.ai to mass produce and deploy driverless electric cars. The joint venture will be founded this year and endowed with a capital of one billion yuan (about 127 million euros).
In addition to Pony.ai and Toyota Motor, Chinese subsidiary GAC Toyota Motor Co (GTMC) also signed the agreement. Under the trio’s plan, GAC Toyota will produce Toyota-branded electric cars, which Pony.ai will then equip with Level 4 autonomous driving technology. The EVs will run on Pony.ai’s robotaxi network platform, PonyPilot+.
“The joint venture combines Pony.ai’s world-class autonomous driving technology and robotaxi operations experience, Toyota’s highly regarded vehicle technologies, and GTMC’s advanced production experience,” an accompanying statement from the Japanese carmaker reads. It says the two companies aim to promote the commercialisation of autonomous mobility and “drive the development of the entire industry into a new stage.”
Toyota and Pony.ai have been cooperating since 2019 to conduct autonomous driving tests with Lexus hybrid cars on public roads in China. Pony.ai was founded in late 2016 and is based in California’s Silicon Valley, Beijing, and Guangzhou. The startup describes itself as “a pioneer in extending autonomous mobility technologies and services at a rapidly expanding footprint of sites around the world.” In addition to Toyota, the company lists SAIC, Sany, FAW Group and GAC Group among its existing partners.
The accompanying press release does not say when the robotaxis will operate outside Chinese test zones. In addition to its fleets, Toyota says Pony.ai currently has a combined fleet of around 200 Toyota and Lexus branded robotaxis that are being used for road tests in all four Chinese Tier 1 cities (Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen).
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