SHANGHAI – Chinese technology company Baidu said Wednesday that its Apollo Go robotaxi arm is anticipated to turn into profitable next 12 months.
The forecast comes as Elon Musk has emphasized his plans to expand Tesla's robotaxi efforts amid declining revenue.
Baidu is a key player in China's emerging robotaxi market and has received permission from a Beijing municipality to start out charging fares in November 2021.
While most cars still have human staff present for safety reasons, the identical Beijing district officially allowed Baidu and startup Pony.ai in September 2023 to charge fares for robotaxi rides without staff within the vehicle.
According to Baidu's latest earnings report, Apollo Go accomplished around 839,000 rides within the last three months of 2023. The company is anticipated to report quarterly results on Thursday.
About 45% of fourth-quarter orders in Wuhan were fully driverless, up from 40% within the previous quarter, the corporate said.
Baidu not only increases usage and reduces labor costs per trip, but additionally makes the cars cheaper.
Baidu said Wednesday that Apollo's Sixth-generation robotaxi will cost about 200,000 yuan ($28,169) – or lower than half the worth of the previous generation, the corporate said.
This 12 months, Baidu plans to deploy 1,000 of those Sixth generation robotaxis in the town of Wuhan, where the corporate already operates numerous vehicles without human staff.
“As costs decline and orders increase, Apollo Go's unit economics (UE) are approaching breakeven. It is expected to reach equilibrium in the fourth quarter of 2024 and become profitable by 2025,” Baidu said in a press release.
Rival robotaxi operator Pony.ai is preparing for an outdoor listing mainland China, in accordance with the China Securities Regulatory Commission website in late April.
Others within the automotive industry remain skeptical of fully self-driving cars because they require broad regulatory approval to operate.
Xpeng Vice Chairman Brian Gu told reporters last month he doesn't expect robotaxis to turn into an actual business for one more five years.
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