Guangqi Ai'an and Xiaoma Zhixing have collaborated again!
On December 11th, GAC Aion and Xiaoma Zhixing held a Robotaxi strategic cooperation signing ceremony at GAC Group's (601238) Panyu headquarters. According to the agreement, both parties will further cooperate to create a Robotaxi mass-produced model with commercial operational competitiveness, and jointly promote the commercialization of fully unmanned Robotaxi production.
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It is reported that the Robotaxi model jointly developed by both parties will be put into operation on the Ruqi Travel Platform under Guangzhou Automobile Group. Regarding this, a reporter from the Daily Economic News sought verification from GAC Aion, but as of press time, no response has been received.
Robotaxi models will be the first to land in the Greater Bay Area next year
In fact, the cooperation between GAC Aion and Xiaoma Zhixing has a long history. In 2019, the two sides jointly built the AION LX L4 Robomaxi model equipped with the third generation auto drive system of Xiaoma Zhixing, and carried out open road testing.
In addition, the AION LX L4 robotaxi vehicle platform equipped with the sixth generation of Xiaoma Zhixing auto drive system was also included in the second batch of models of Guangzhou Intelligent Connected Vehicles in 2022, and provides automatic driving travel services to the public.
In October this year, GAC Group, the parent company of GAC Aion, announced that GAC Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GAC Group, invested 27 million US dollars in Xiaoma Zhixing. The investment in Xiaoma Intelligence deepens business collaboration and promotes the company's development in the field of autonomous driving, "said Guangzhou Automobile Group. Some industry insiders have analyzed that GAC Capital's investment in Xiaoma Zhixing is not only a financial cooperation, but also a deep binding of technology and strategy, which will help both parties achieve common development and market expansion in the field of autonomous driving.
Photo by journalist Sun Lei (source image)
Some people believe that the cooperation between GAC Aion and Xiaoma Zhixing this time is a "deepening" of the previous series of cooperation. Guangqi Ai'an stated that the strong alliance between Guangqi Ai'an and Xiaoma Zhixing in the L4 level field will further deepen the layout of intelligent travel ecology and accelerate the arrival of the era of unmanned autonomous driving.
It is reported that GAC Aion and Xiaoma Zhixing have started technological breakthroughs in the research and development of autonomous driving vehicle grade kits, model production, chassis redundancy safety design, and other aspects.
According to the agreement, GAC Aion and Xiaoma Zhixing plan to launch at least a thousand units of Aion Robotaxi models. The first batch will be completed by 2025 and will be the first to land in the Greater Bay Area, covering more regions and countries in the future. Guangqi Aion revealed that this cooperation model is Aion's global model, which will play a role in promoting the overseas development of autonomous driving technology in the future.
Plan to achieve the normalization of Robotaxi bicycle operation gross profit
It is worth noting that 2024 is a year of significant progress for Robotaxi. Firstly, in terms of technology, the industry generally believes that autonomous driving technology is no longer a limiting factor for the commercialization of Robotaxi. Xiaoma Zhixing CTO Lou Tiancheng also stated that there are no technical obstacles to autonomous driving at present, and the technological progress is already halfway through.
In terms of cost, in the past, the cost of modifying a single Robotaxi car was as high as hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the research and development investment was too large, which also increased the difficulty of profitability. Now, the industry has achieved significant reductions in laser radar costs, labor costs, and vehicle costs through technological breakthroughs, supply chain optimization, and economies of scale.
In addition, in terms of commercialization, the mileage of autonomous driving test demonstration roads in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen has grown rapidly, driving the commercial expansion of Robotaxi. Especially in Wuhan and other places, the regional profitability of Robotaxi operations has also given the industry a glimmer of hope.
Photo by journalist Dong Tianyi (source image)
From the cooperation between GAC Aion and Xiaoma Zhixing, it can be seen that both parties have also mentioned the possibility of profitability. It is reported that both parties plan to launch at least a thousand units of the Aeon Robotaxi model and achieve a positive gross profit margin for Robotaxi bicycle operations.
Zhang Ning, Vice President of Xiaoma Zhixing and Head of Robotaxi's Autonomous Driving Travel Business, said, "In cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, when the Robotaxi deployment reaches 1000 units, the operation will reach the breakeven point. Beyond this point, for every additional vehicle, our costs will be lower and our gross profit margin will be higher, entering a positive stage of continuous self generation
Xiaoma Zhixing previously expected to achieve a break even point in bicycle operations (gross profit turning positive) by 2025, and began to move towards large-scale commercialization of Robotaxi.
According to Frost& Sullivan predicts that with technological advancements, favorable policies, and cost reductions, Robotaxi will achieve large-scale commercialization around 2026. It is expected that Robotaxi will be widely adopted globally by 2030, and the penetration rate of Robotaxi in China's smart travel will reach 31.8% by then, and 69.3% by 2035. It is expected that by 2030, the market size of Robotaxi in China and globally will reach 488.8 billion yuan and 834.9 billion yuan respectively.
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