China AV Newsletter - Oct. 2024

October 2024 was a pivotal month for China’s autonomous driving sector, showcasing remarkable resilience amidst geopolitical tensions and significant advancements in technology, partnerships, and funding. While Baidu and DiDi scaled back U.S. operations due to political challenges, domestic progress surged forward. Highlights include PonyAI’s collaboration with Alibaba’s AMap to expand Robotaxi services, Beijing’s massive expansion of autonomous driving demonstration zones, and DiDi’s $300 million funding round to accelerate RoboTaxi production. The month also saw groundbreaking financial milestones and innovations. WeRide filed for a $320 million IPO on NASDAQ, Horizon Robotics achieved a 35% surge on its Hong Kong IPO.

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China AV Newsletter - Oct. 2024

Oct. 2nd: Major Chinese autonomous driving companies, including Baidu and DiDi Chuxing, have significantly reduced or ceased road tests in the US due to escalating geopolitical tensions. This strategic shift reflects the challenges Chinese tech firms face in international markets amidst complex political dynamics.

Oct.14th: Pony.ai and AMap by Alibaba announced their collaboration. Pony.ai's autonomous driving vehicles have been connected to AMap's integrated travel platform, allowing users to experience Robotaxi service in Guangzhou through AMap. The parties built a strategic plan to expand the service to additional regions and cities.

Oct.15th: WeRide has officially launched its new generation of mass-produced Robotaxi - GXR, which has drawn on more than 1,800 days of WeRide's public operation experience in the field of Robotaxi, and possesses L4-level public road operation capability, which can comfortably cope with complex scenarios such as morning and evening rush hours, mixed traffic, and high-speed driving at night.

Oct. 18th: Beijing government intends to expand its high-level autonomous driving demonstration area to approximately 3,000 square kilometers between the fourth and sixth ring roads, more than doubling the size of the city’s six urban districts. This initiative aims to position Beijing at the forefront of autonomous driving technology development.

Oct.22nd: DiDi autonomous driving completed round C financing, raising $300 million. The round was led by GAC, and DiDi ride-hailing corporate participated in the investment. The equity raised will be used to increase R&D investment in autonomous driving technology and accelerate the launch of the company’s first RoboTaxi production vehicle.

Oct.23rd: WeRide has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on NASDAQ plans to raise $320 million. As part of the offering, WeRide will issue 6.5 million shares at a price of $15.50 to $18.50 per share.

Oct.24th: Horizon Robotics (9660.HK), listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange offering 1.355 billion shares globally, of which about 10% in the Hong Kong public offering, and 90% in the international offering. The stock started at an issue price of HK$3.99 per share and reached during the first day of listing to HK$5.4 per share, reflecting over 35% increase! With a total market cap of over HK$70 billion.

Oct.25th: SiEngine announced the successful launch of its 7nm autonomous driving chip, StarLight (also known as Xingchen-1 or AD1000). The chip is scheduled for mass production in 2025 and deployment in automotive applications by 2026, representing a significant advancement in China’s autonomous driving technology.

Oct.28th: QCraft announced the completion of hundreds of millions of yuan of round C+. Equity will be used to expand R&D of full-stack autonomous driving technology, pushing forward mass production delivery of high-level NOA solutions, and target an evolution of the company’s autonomous solutions from L2+ to L4.

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Sources: Reuters; Wired; Global Times; China Daily; Gasgoo; South China Morning Post; Asia Financial; The Verge; MarketWatch; CarNewsChina.