BEIJING, May 18 (Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng said on Monday it had begun mass production of its first robotaxi at its Guangzhou headquarters, targeting fully driverless operations by early 2027.
The Tesla rival is accelerating its shift toward driverless vehicles and humanoid robotics as competition intensifies in the world’s largest auto market.
The new robotaxi, built on Xpeng’s GX platform, is China’s first “production-ready, pre-assembled robotaxi model developed entirely with in-house technologies,” the company said.
Xpeng plans to begin pilot robotaxi operations in the second half of the year.
The company will likely produce hundreds to thousands of robotaxis over the next 12 to 18 months, President Brian Gu told Reuters last month.
(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Ju-min Park; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
