Chinese autonomous driving startups added hundreds of cars to their operations this year, maintaining expansion goals
Top Chinese autonomous driving startups are aggressively expanding their robotaxi fleets despite temporary regulatory tightening triggered by a mass vehicle failure in March.
Leading operators, including and , have added hundreds of self-driving cars to their operations this year, maintaining their commercial expansion goals even with the brief operational pause imposed by regulators.
The unabated expansion underscores the resilience of China’s autonomous driving sector as regulators seek to balance aggressive commercialization with public safety in the wake of high-profile operational setbacks.
The regulatory change stems from an incident that occurred on March 31 in the central city of Wuhan, where nearly 100 robotaxis operated by , a subsidiary of , suddenly stopped due to a coordinated system failure. In mid-April, 3 central government ministries ordered industry-wide fixes to improve safety oversight.
While the government’s initial reactions were strict, several industry sources said regulatory measures have since been relaxed.
However, the sector has entered a “slowdown period” that is expected to last until the end of June. To comply with inspection requirements, the majority of new robotaxis deployed are temporarily prohibited from transporting passengers.
Despite these short-term constraints, operators are rapidly expanding their operations. Pony.ai reported a fleet of over 1,700 vehicles as of May 24, an increase of approximately 250 cars from 2 months earlier.
The company also revised upwards its fleet target for 2026, from 3,000 to 3,500 vehicles. Pony.ai Chief Financial Officer Wang Haojun noted that the domestic market remains the company’s foundation, with first-tier cities serving as the main focus before expanding into second-tier markets.
Similarly, WeRide expanded its domestic fleet to about 1,000 cars by the end of April, an increase of approximately 200 vehicles since the end of March. Baidu did not disclose the exact size of the Apollo Go fleet, but reported completing 3.2 million orders in the first quarter, a 120% increase from a year earlier, with peak weekly orders exceeding 350,000 in March.
Industry executives are now pushing for targeted regulations based on individual safety metrics rather than drastic measures.
WeRide CEO Tony Han warned against widespread punishment, saying the entire industry should not be harmed because one person falls ill. Han suggested adopting a regulatory model similar to aviation, which rewards companies with impeccable safety records and penalizes those with poor performance.
After discussions with authorities, Han expressed optimism that the current regulatory adjustments are short-term and do not alter the government’s structural support.
Wang agreed, noting that stricter security limits are a necessary phase in the industry’s maturation, which will ultimately give a commercial advantage to companies able to earn the public’s trust.
This report was originally in English by Caixin Global on May 28, 2026. It was translated and republished by Poder360 under mutual content sharing agreement.
