Under the strategic focus of the Alibaba Group, Amap is doubling down on its efforts.
On November 5, Amap announced a partnership with XPeng Inc., integrating XPeng’s Robotaxi services into its platform to jointly offer L4 autonomous driving ride-hailing services. On the same day, at XPeng’s Tech Day, Chairman He Xiaopeng revealed plans to launch three L4 Robotaxi models next year.
The collaboration goes beyond strategic announcements—both parties also laid out a timeline. He Xiaopeng stated that XPeng’s Robotaxi will begin trial operations in multiple cities, including Guangzhou, next year. Meanwhile, Amap CEO Guo Ning unveiled even grander ambitions: the two companies plan to expand globally, bringing Robotaxi services to international markets.
Clearly, Amap and XPeng are determined to swiftly integrate this "future technology" into everyday life. Internally, Amap has likely positioned Robotaxi as a strategic priority, potentially becoming a new growth engine for the company.
When Robotaxi first emerged, many dismissed it as a tech showcase. Even a year ago, when Elon Musk unveiled Tesla’s Cybercab, most saw it merely as a move to boost Tesla’s stock price.
But unlike past "storytelling," Robotaxi is now rapidly advancing toward large-scale commercialization. Beyond Baidu’s Apollo Go, more pragmatic industry giants are entering the fray.
In September, Hellobike, CATL, and Ant Group jointly launched the mass-produced HelloRobot1, deploying 200 vehicles in Zhuzhou, Hunan, with plans to scale to 10,000 units by 2026. In October, Didi Chuxing announced its autonomous ride-hailing service had entered the demonstration phase, targeting Robotaxi rollouts in multiple regions by the end of next year.
Meanwhile, Geely’s autonomous driving arm, Qianli Technology, recently disclosed its roadmap, aiming to deploy over 1,000 Robotaxis per city across 10 global cities within 18 months.
The driving forces behind this acceleration include declining per-vehicle costs, looser regulations, and breakthroughs in operational efficiency—leading to improved economies of scale and gross margins.
Currently, costs for lidar, computing platforms, and domain control chips have dropped significantly. Pony.ai’s IPO filing revealed its seventh-gen platform’s BOM cost is 70% lower than its predecessor, with per-vehicle costs potentially falling to RMB 200,000—down from RMB 450,000 for early retrofitted models.
Meanwhile, AI advancements are accelerating autonomous driving tech. Leading players like WeRide and Pony.ai highlight that data reuse enables rapid expansion across cities, reducing migration cycles to mere weeks.
After years of development, Robotaxi technology has matured, and policy support has grown. Since last year, multiple cities have expanded pilot zones and operating hours. Shenzhen even granted the first citywide commercial permits for fully driverless operations.
As technology ceases to be the sole moat, commercialization is finally on the horizon.
Goldman Sachs notes that China, with its vast EV adoption, innovation, and policy backing, is a key driver of autonomous mobility. It forecasts over 500,000 Robotaxis in China by 2030, with the market reaching $47 billion by 2035.
The economics of Robotaxi are nearing viability. Yet, the industry still grapples with high operational costs and the "supply-demand mismatch" challenge.
According to Orient Securities, in cities like Wuhan, Robotaxis generate ~RMB 20,000 monthly revenue per vehicle against ~RMB 16,000 in costs. After fixed expenses like depreciation and insurance, losses hover near 20%, nearing breakeven. Positive cash flow requires daily operation exceeding 10 hours, fleets of 500+ vehicles, and 5,000+ daily orders.
This demands higher operational efficiency from Robotaxi firms.
Early entrants like Baidu and Didi opted for self-built channels, leveraging their massive user bases in closed ecosystems to dominate with proprietary fleets.
Now, Robotaxi players face fierce competition from Baidu’s full-stack model, Didi’s hybrid approach, and tech giants like Waymo. But not all can build vertical empires like these incumbents.
Mastering consumer service operations is the biggest challenge. At this critical juncture, Amap—an "outsider"—has entered the fray as an aggregator, positioning itself as a neutral platform.
In 2017, Amap pioneered ride-hailing aggregation in China, becoming the largest such platform through open collaboration. For the industry, Amap’s "non-car-making" stance could make it an ideal "common denominator" for Robotaxi.
He Xiaopeng emphasized, "Once we perfect Robotaxi operations through ecosystem partnerships, we’re talking fleets in the tens or hundreds of thousands—not hundreds."
Yet Amap faces its own dilemma—when Robotaxi costs undercut human drivers, the mobility landscape will reset. If rivals like Baidu, Didi, or automakers achieve scale, Amap’s edge could erode.
Amap’s move secures its "ticket" to future mobility. Its 200+ country coverage and user base may finally monetize.
Crucially, Amap is backed by Alibaba’s ecosystem. Its Robotaxi platform could integrate with Cainiao’s autonomous logistics and Ele.me’s hyperlocal services, weaving a future transport network for "people and goods."
Perhaps Amap’s true ambition is to become the "Android of autonomous mobility"—an OS defining standards and connecting billions of endpoints. With Alibaba’s support, this vision may not be far off.