Pony.ai, Toyota, and GAC Toyota form driverless robotaxis joint venture

Pony.ai, a Chinese autonomous driving company, Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. (TMCI), and GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (GTMC) held a joint venture signing ceremony today. They announced a partnership aimed at advancing the mass production and large-scale deployment of fully driverless robotaxis, with an estimated investment exceeding RMB 1 billion ($139.2 million).

Collaborative Efforts for Safe and Convenient Robotaxi Services

Under this collaboration, GTMC will supply Pony.ai with Toyota-branded battery electric vehicles, featuring Toyota’s redundant systems suitable for L4 autonomous driving development. These vehicles will be equipped with Pony.ai’s state-of-the-art autonomous driving technology and will operate on the PonyPilot+ robotaxi network platform. The combined strengths of the three parties will deliver safe and accessible robotaxi services to riders.

Global autonomous driving pioneer Pony.ai partners with Toyota and GAC Toyota: RMB 1 billion investment in robotaxi future

A Landmark in Robotaxi Industry Development

The joint venture will merge Pony.ai’s top-tier autonomous driving technology and robotaxi operations experience, Toyota’s world-renowned vehicle technologies, and GTMC’s sophisticated production expertise. The alliance paves the way for scalable robotaxi services, boosting the full commercialization of advanced autonomous mobility, and propelling the industry into a new phase.

A History of Collaboration and Achievements

This joint venture builds on the long-standing collaboration between Pony.ai and Toyota. Their partnership history includes the joint advancement of autonomous vehicles in China since August 2019, leading autonomous driving tests on public roads, and the recent public road testing of the Toyota Sienna Autono-MaaS (S-AM) vehicle equipped with Pony.ai’s sixth-generation autonomous driving software.

Pony.ai’s Presence in China’s Top Cities

Pony.ai currently boasts a combined fleet of around 200 Toyota and Lexus brand robotaxis across China’s Tier-1 cities (Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen), focusing on road tests and public-facing robotaxi operations. This joint venture with Toyota and GTMC is a significant milestone that promises to reshape the future of transportation and set a new benchmark in the autonomous driving landscape.