Toyota, together with Chinese autonomous driving company Pony.ai, announced that its first mass-produced robotaxi, based on the Toyota bZ4X, has rolled off the assembly line.
The project is a joint venture between Toyota Motor China, GAC Toyota and Pony.ai, with the latter two taking over manufacturing. In contrast to prototypes that spend their lives on the press stage, the robotaxis are on the way to real use.
From prototype to production
The companies, as mentioned in the official press release, plan to build more than 1,000 Toyota bZ4X robot axles this year with gradual commercial launches in major cities in China.
At the heart of the robotaxis is Pony.ai’s latest seventh-generation autonomous driving system, which reduces the bill of materials for the self-driving kit by 70% (compared to the previous generation) while using 100% automotive-grade hardware. The company therefore expects its entire robotaxi fleet to exceed 3,000 vehicles by the end of 2026.
Inside, the Toyota bZ4X-based Pony.ai robotaxis offer features that will be familiar to anyone who has ever used a modern ride-hailing app: Bluetooth-based automatic unlocking, voice interaction, online music, pre-trip air conditioning, and smoother braking and acceleration for more comfort and less motion sickness.
Scale quickly the Toyota way
The Robotaix are built according to the Toyota Production System and adhere to Toyota’s “QDR” principles, which stand for “Quality, Durability and Reliability”. While Tesla and Waymo often draw attention to themselves with state-of-the-art software, Toyota relies on size, cost control and manufacturing discipline.
“Together, these efforts demonstrate a clear path for autonomous driving technology to move from limited-scale validation to large-scale mass production.”
Right now, the robotaxi landscape in the US looks like a race in which some runners are already ahead. Waymo, for example, is doing very well in commercial use and operates around 2,500 fully autonomous robotaxis in several US cities. Tesla is expanding its service from Austin with a controlled, well-equipped fleet.
However, since Toyota’s robotaxis are currently only available in China, they compete with local providers such as Baidu’s Apollo Go, WeRide and AutoX.
