Beijing, May 29, 2025 — The autonomous driving sector witnessed a dramatic surge today, fueled by dual momentum from policy advancements and Tesla’s imminent Robotaxi launch. The sector’s benchmark index rose over 3%, with more than 20 Chinese stocks, including Wanma Technology, Yuhetian, and Derun Electronics, hitting their daily trading limits.
Global Milestones Drive Sector Momentum
1. Tesla’s Robotaxi Set for June 12 Launch
Citing anonymous sources, Bloomberg reported that Tesla plans to kick off its highly anticipated Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, on June 12, aligning with Elon Musk’s earlier pledge to launch operations by the end of June. This week, the company conducted its first fully driverless public road test in Austin: a Model Y SUV operated autonomously with no one in the driver’s seat, overseen only by a Tesla engineer in the passenger seat without remote intervention.
Musk revealed plans to deploy an initial fleet of 10 autonomous Robotaxis in Austin, scaling to 1,000 vehicles within months and hundreds of thousands by late 2026. The move marks a critical step toward realizing Tesla’s vision of a global robo-taxi network.
2. China’s Autonomous Driving Sector Accelerates Global Expansion
Chinese players are making significant strides both domestically and internationally:
Middle Eastern Market Dominance: Pony.ai announced a strategic partnership with Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) on May 27 to deploy Robotaxi fleets, following WeRide’s launch of the Middle East’s first pure driverless Robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi just one week prior. Baidu’s Apollo Go entered Dubai and Abu Dhabi in late March, solidifying China’s presence in the region.
Domestic Progress: Apollo Go has provided over 11 million rides, with Q1 2025 orders surging 75% year-on-year. Startups like Pony.ai and WeRide have gone public to secure funding, while collaborations such as DiDi Chuxing-GAC Aion (L4 vehicle mass production by year-end) and Momenta-SAIC (hundreds of vehicles by 2026) highlight industrial momentum.
3. Policy Tailwinds Strengthen Sector Foundations
China’s policy framework continues to prioritize autonomous driving:
The “14th Five-Year Plan” includes autonomous driving in its digital economy roadmap, with multi-department initiatives to facilitate vehicle market access and road testing.
Guangdong Province’s 2025 Digital Development Agenda emphasizes intelligent connected vehicle pilot projects, while the Ministry of Transport plans to soon release AI+Transportation Implementation Guidelines after public consultation.
In logistics, eight central agencies recently vowed to reduce costs by promoting automated guided vehicles and unmanned delivery, aligning with global trends in smart mobility.
Industry Forecasts: A Trillion-Dollar Market on the Horizon
ARK Invest’s Big Ideas 2025 report projects the Robotaxi market could reach $34 trillion by 2030, with autonomous driving platforms accounting for 98.8% of that value ($33.6 trillion). Soochow Securities identifies 2026–2027 as the inflection point for sales growth, predicting a 200-billion-yuan market by 2030.
For unmanned logistics, global autonomous truck testing will scale in 2025, with China’s pre-installed system and logistics service market expected to exceed 400 billion yuan by 2030 (excluding subscription fees). China Merchants Securities highlights unmanned delivery vehicles’ cost advantages, forecasting a trillion-yuan sector as regulations mature and technology scales.
Tianfeng Securities concludes that 2025 marks the “year zero” for unmanned logistics, signaling both policy liberalization and the dawn of profitability.
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