5 Chinese Self-Driving Stocks to Ride the $170 Billion Boom

China’s autonomous driving sector is seeing heightened investor interest, fueled by Nvidia’s recent stake in WeRide and Pony.ai’s successful IPO. Nvidia disclosed ownership of 1.7 million WeRide shares, valued at $25 million, driving WeRide’s stock up over 90% in premarket trading. Meanwhile, Pony.ai raised $400 million in its U.S. IPO, though its shares faced initial volatility. Industry leader Xpeng remains committed to advancing smart driving, targeting L3 autonomy by 2025. With China’s autonomous vehicle market expected to grow from $17.23 billion in 2024 to $170.57 billion by 2033, investor confidence continues to rise, driven by AI innovations and supportive government policies.

Name	Reasons for Selection
WeRide	- Global pioneer in L4 and L2+ ADAS. - Holds autonomous driving licenses in multiple countries. - Public company focused on autonomous driving. - Strategic investment from NVIDIA. - Leading commercialization.
Pony.ai	- Pioneer in Robotaxi operation. - Full-stack self-developed technology. - Strategic cooperation with Toyota and GAC. - Operations in China and the US. - Strong capital backing.
NIO	- Full-stack, self-developed autonomous driving technology. - Government-approved for L3/L4 testing. - Industry-leading hardware (Aquila and Adam). - End-to-end AI model architecture.
XPeng Motors	- Full-stack self-development of autonomous driving. - Significant data accumulation. - Achieved high-level intelligent driving in a $20,000 model. - Commercial validation with Volkswagen and NVIDIA.
Li Auto	- Full-stack self-developed autonomous driving system. - Urban NOA implementation. - Industry-leading computing power reserves. - Unique business model supports R&D. - Alignment with Chinese government plans.

WeRide

Why Choose It as an Autonomous Driving Stock?

• Global Pioneer: The first company in the world to simultaneously develop both L4 autonomous driving solutions (Robotaxi, Robobus, etc.) and L2+ advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), covering a full range of scenarios.
• Unique Licensing: The only technology company holding autonomous driving licenses in China, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore.
• Became first global public company focused on generally applicable autonomous driving and Robotaxi. Became a public company on NASDAQ in October, 2024, with the stock reaching a market capitalization of over 5.3 billion USD on the first day of trading.
• Strategic Investment and Ratings: Received a $25 million strategic investment from NVIDIA. Morgan Stanley gave it an "Overweight" rating and set a target price of $23.
• Leading Commercialization: Over 1900 days of Robotaxi operation, over 10,000 orders for Robovans, and ADAS solutions entering mass production.

Company Overview

• Founded: April 2017
• Headquarters: Guangzhou, China
• IPO: Listed on NASDAQ on October 25, 2024 (Ticker: WRD), with an offering price of $15.5 per ADS.
• Employees: Approximately 1,000 (70% in R&D)
• Technology Focus: L4 full-stack autonomous driving solution provider
• Operations: Covering 30 cities in 9 countries worldwide, with over 2.6 million kilometers of testing.

Main Businesses

1. Smart Mobility
   • Robotaxi: Autonomous taxi service on open roads (in cities like Guangzhou and Beijing).
   • Robobus: Fixed-route autonomous minibuses (deployed in 30+ cities globally).
2. Smart Logistics
   • Robovan: L4 autonomous delivery vehicles (over 10,000 orders).
3. Municipal Services
   • Robosweeper: Autonomous street sweepers.
4. Front-Loading Solutions
   • Advanced Driving Solution: L2-L3 ADAS systems.
5. Technology Licensing
   • WeRide One: Output of a general technology platform (including perception algorithms, high-definition maps, and simulation systems).

Financial Information

• 2023 Revenue: $55 million
• Service Revenue Share (H1 2024): 86% (business focus shifting towards operational services)
• IPO Proceeds: $458.5 million (public offering + private placement)
• Gross Margin: 41.78% (Q2 2024 data)
• Market Cap: Peaked at 27% increase on the first day of listing, currently around $4.92 billion.

Market Position

• World's Largest Robotaxi Operator: Operating fleet of over 300 vehicles.
• First in China to Open Autonomous Driving Services in Core Urban Areas:
• Leading Market Share in Autonomous Street Sweepers: Over 60% of government procurement projects.
• Advanced ADAS Solutions Integrated into Supply Chains: Of OEMs like GAC and Yutong.

Major Partners and Customers

• Automotive Alliances: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, GAC Group, Yutong Bus
• Technology Suppliers: Bosch (sensor fusion solutions), NVIDIA (computing platform)
• Cloud Service Provider: AWS (data processing and machine learning platform)
• Government Agencies: Guangzhou Municipal Transportation Commission, Singapore Land Transport Authority
• Mobility Platform: Didi Autonomous Driving (joint operation pilot)

Related Projects and Technologies

• WeRide One General Technology Platform
  • Supports L2-L4 technology migration.
  • Multi-sensor fusion solution (16-line LiDAR + 8-camera combination).
  • Capability to handle extreme scenarios like heavy rain and tunnels.
• Data System
  • Processes terabytes of road test data daily.
  • AWS cloud platform enables a 12-hour model training cycle (industry average is 1-2 weeks).
• Notable Projects
  • 144 square kilometer Robotaxi operation in Huangpu District, Guangzhou.
  • World's first autonomous driving test on a desert highway in Ordos.
  • "Smart Island" autonomous minibus demonstration project in Singapore.

Future Outlook

1. Accelerated Commercialization
   • Expand Robotaxi service to 50 cities by 2025.
   • Robovan deliveries to exceed 30,000 units.
2. Technology Iteration
   • Launch the fifth-generation sensor suite in 2025 (reducing costs by 40%).
   • Urban NOA (Navigate on Autopilot) functionality as standard across all models.
3. Global Expansion
   • Establish a regional R&D center in the Middle East.
   • Launch the first Robotaxi commercial project in Europe.
4. Ecosystem Building
   • Open-source WeRide OS operating system.
   • Establish an autonomous driving developer community.

Pony.ai

Why Choose It as an Autonomous Driving Stock?

• Global Autonomous Driving Commercialization Pioneer: The first company in the world to operate Robotaxi services on a regular basis, taking the lead in the large-scale application of L4 autonomous driving technology.
• Full-Stack Self-Developed Technology Barrier: Possesses full-stack autonomous driving algorithms and hardware systems covering perception, decision-making, and control.
• Strategic Cooperation with Leading Companies: Established deep mass production cooperation with world-class automakers such as Toyota and GAC.
• Dual Market Layout Advantage: Road testing and commercial operations are carried out simultaneously in China and the United States.
• Strong Capital Backing: Raised over $1.3 billion in funding, with the IPO fundraising scale setting an industry annual record.

Company Overview

• Founded: December 2016
• Headquarters: Guangzhou, China (with 8 R&D centers globally, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Silicon Valley)
• Founders: James Peng (former Chief Architect of Baidu's autonomous driving unit), Lou Tiancheng (global TopCoder champion)
• Employees: 1,359 (as of 2024)
• IPO: NASDAQ IPO in November 2024 (Ticker: PONY), with a peak market cap of $4.5 billion.

Main Businesses

Business Segment	Description
Robotaxi	Operates autonomous taxi services in cities like Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai, with over 5 million passengers served.
Robotruck	Mass-produced autonomous trucks in collaboration with Sany Heavy Industry, already commercially operating on logistics trunk lines.
Passenger Car AD	Provides L2+/L3 intelligent driving solutions for individual car owners, developing mass-produced models with Toyota.
Technology Licensing	Licenses its "virtual driver" autonomous driving system to automakers, integrated into various mass-produced models from Toyota, GAC, and others.

Financial Information

• IPO Proceeds: $260 million raised in November 2024 (totaling $452 million including the greenshoe option).
• Revenue:
  • 2022: $68.39 million
  • 2023: $71.90 million (+5.1% YoY)
  • H1 2024: $24.72 million (+101.2% YoY)
• R&D Investment: Consistently over 70% of total revenue.
• Losses: Cumulative net loss of $324 million from 2022 to H1 2024, with a loss of $51.78 million in H1 2024.

Market Position

• Global Testing Mileage: Over 40 million kilometers (including 4 million kilometers of fully driverless driving).
• License Reserves:
  • Among the first batch in China to obtain driverless operation permits in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
  • The second company globally to obtain a California driverless taxi license.
• Industry Ranking:
  • Top 5 globally in California DMV disengagement rate ranking (2018).
  • Highest valuation among Chinese autonomous driving startups (2019).

Major Partners and Customers

Partner	Collaboration
Toyota Motor	Joint venture Robotaxi company, planning to mass-produce L4 autonomous vehicles by 2025.
GAC Group	Jointly developed an L4 autonomous driving platform, applied to the Aion series models.
Hyundai Motor	Jointly operate autonomous driving sharing services in California.
Saudi Arabia Neom	Received a $100 million investment to build a Middle East R&D center, focusing on smart city autonomous driving.
FAW Group	Joint R&D and scenario implementation of autonomous driving trucks.

Related Projects and Technologies

• Virtual Driver System: A general-purpose autonomous driving solution adaptable to multiple vehicle models.
• Sixth-Generation Sensors: Self-developed solid-state LiDAR + 4D millimeter-wave radar fusion perception solution.
• Shadow Mode: Continuously optimizes algorithms through closed-loop data from mass-produced vehicles.
• Special Scenario Library: Accumulated handling of over 200,000 complex corner cases.
• Parallel Driving System: 5G remote monitoring and takeover technology.

Future Outlook

• Accelerated Commercialization: Plans to expand the Robotaxi fleet to over 5,000 vehicles by 2025.
• Mass Production Milestone: The L4 model in collaboration with Toyota is expected to be delivered in 2026.
• Technology Evolution: Focus on breakthroughs in autonomous driving reliability under extreme weather conditions (rain, fog, snow).
• Global Expansion: Accelerated market deployment in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
• Profitability Challenge: Expected to achieve single-city profitability by 2028 and overall profitability by 2030.

NIO

Why Choose It as an Autonomous Driving Stock?

NIO possesses full-stack, self-developed technology capabilities in the field of autonomous driving, covering perception algorithms, map localization, control strategies, and the underlying system. Its NAD (NIO Autonomous Driving) system has gradually achieved full coverage of highways, urban areas, and parking scenarios. The company has been listed by the Chinese government as one of the first companies approved for L3/L4 autonomous driving public road testing, demonstrating its technological leadership. In addition, NIO's Aquila super-sensing system and Adam supercomputing platform are industry-leading hardware, combined with an end-to-end AI model architecture, continuously promoting the commercialization of autonomous driving technology.

Company Overview

• Founded: 2014
• Headquarters: Shanghai, China
• Listing: Listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: NIO) in 2018, with secondary listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (9866.HK) and the Singapore Stock Exchange in 2022.
• Founder: William Li (Li Bin)
• Employees: Over 32,000
• Manufacturing Model: Contract manufacturing with JAC Motors, with a production base in Hefei.

Main Businesses

• High-End Smart Electric Vehicles: Design, development, and sales of ES, EC, and ET series models (such as ES8, ET7, etc.), covering SUVs, sedans, and other categories.
• Innovative Service Models:
  • BaaS (Battery as a Service): Users can rent batteries, reducing the cost of purchasing a vehicle.
  • ADaaS (Autonomous Driving as a Service): Provides subscription-based advanced driver-assistance features.
• Ecosystem Expansion: Launched the NIO Phone smartphone and the NIO Life lifestyle brand, building a "user community" ecosystem.

Financial Information

• 2023 Revenue: Approximately $8.64 billion
• Net Loss: $2.89 billion (2023)
• Gross Margin: The automotive gross margin in the second quarter of 2024 reached 12.2%, and the gross margin of the NIO brand is expected to increase to 15% in 2025.
• R&D Investment: Focused on autonomous driving, battery technology, and new platform development.

Market Position

• Pioneer in China's High-End Electric Vehicle Market: Cumulative deliveries exceeded 557,000 vehicles in 2024, firmly ranking among the market leaders.
• Global Expansion: Has entered European markets such as Norway and Germany, with plans to expand to 25 countries by 2025.
• Competitive Positioning: Differentiated competition through battery swapping technology and the NAD system, directly facing competitors such as Tesla and XPeng.

Major Partners and Customers

• Strategic Cooperation:
  • JAC Motors: Contract manufacturing.
  • CATL: Jointly established a battery asset management company.
  • Tencent: Cooperated on the development of autonomous driving AI and cloud technology.
• Government Support: The Hefei municipal government provided investment and assisted with supply chain integration.
• Customer Base: Focuses on mid-to-high-end individual users and corporate customers (such as the Norwegian taxi market).

Related Projects and Technologies

• NAD Autonomous Driving System:
  • Aquila Super Sensing System: 33 high-performance sensors (including LiDAR and 8MP cameras), providing 360° redundant perception.
  • Adam Supercomputing Platform: 4 NVIDIA Orin chips (1016 TOPS computing power), supporting real-time data processing.
  • End-to-End AI Model: Launched the Banyan 3.1.0 system in January 2025, integrating a large model architecture to improve decision-making capabilities.
• Battery Swapping Network: Over 1,300 battery swapping stations globally, with a single swap taking only 3 minutes.
• NT3.0 Platform: Released in 2023, supporting high-voltage fast charging and higher-level autonomous driving.

Future Outlook

• Technology Upgrade: Achieve point-to-point autonomous driving on urban roads by 2025 and promote the implementation of L4 technology.
• Brand Matrix: Launch the mass-market brand "ONVO" (Ledao), with the first model, the L60, priced in the 200,000 RMB range.
• Profitability Path: Improve profitability through economies of scale (targeting double deliveries to 165,000 vehicles in 2025) and cost optimization.
• Risk Challenges: Intensified industry price wars, slower-than-expected channel expansion in lower-tier cities, and delays in autonomous driving regulations.

XPeng Motors

Why Choose It as an Autonomous Driving Stock?

XPeng Motors is chosen as a core target in the field of autonomous driving for the following key reasons:

• Full-Stack Self-Development Capability: The only car company in China to achieve full-stack self-development of autonomous driving, with the XPILOT system iterating faster than the industry.
• Data Accumulation Advantage: Cumulative driving mileage exceeded 140 million kilometers, and simulated driving mileage exceeded 122 million kilometers (as of 2023).
• Technological Breakthrough: The first company in the world to achieve high-level intelligent driving in a $20,000 model, with the goal of achieving L2 hardware reaching an L3+ experience by 2025.
• Commercial Validation: Received strategic investment from Volkswagen Group and carried out technical cooperation. NVIDIA actively recruited its autonomous driving team.

Company Overview

• Founded: 2014 (the main company officially began operations in 2015)
• Headquarters: Guangzhou, China
• Listing: Listed on the New York Stock Exchange (XPEV) in 2020, with a secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (09868.HK) in 2021.
• Founder: He Xiaopeng (co-founder of UCWeb)
• Employees: Over 7,000 (R&D personnel account for 43%)
• Production Bases: Zhaoqing (main base), Guangzhou, Wuhan

Main Businesses

• Intelligent Electric Vehicle R&D and Manufacturing: Covering the price range of 150,000 to 400,000 RMB, with main models including G6/G9/P7+/X9.
• Autonomous Driving System Development: R&D and commercial application of XPILOT/XNGP systems.
• Smart Ecosystem Construction: Self-built charging network (1,557 charging stations), finance, and after-sales service system.
• Cutting-Edge Technology Exploration: Research and development of split-type flying cars and bipedal robots.

Financial Information

• Key Data for Q3 2024:
  • Total Revenue: 10.11 billion RMB (breaking the 10 billion milestone)
  • Vehicle Deliveries: 46,533 vehicles (+126% YoY)
  • Gross Margin: 14.8% (up 9.2 percentage points YoY)
  • Cash Reserves: 37.33 billion RMB
• R&D Investment: 1.37 billion RMB per quarter (13.5% of total revenue)

Market Position

• A first-tier enterprise in China's intelligent driving sector.
• Market share of 3.2% in the new energy vehicle market from January to September 2024 (TOP 3 in the 150,000-300,000 RMB segment).
• The first new car-making force in the world to achieve mass production of urban NGP.
• Pioneer in the European Market: Established sales networks in 8 countries, including Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

Major Partners and Customers

• Strategic Investors: Volkswagen (strategic investment of $700 million), Alibaba, Xiaomi Group
• Technology Partners: NVIDIA (DRIVE platform), Qualcomm (smart cockpit chips)
• Ecosystem Partners: Didi (MONA project), NBA China (brand cooperation)
• Supply Chain: CATL (batteries), Delphi (electronic architecture), Valeo (sensors)

Related Projects and Technologies

• XNGP Intelligent Driving System:
  • Achieved 73% road network coverage nationwide in 2024.
  • Pure vision perception architecture (first applied to P7+ models).
  • Supports "AI Driver" personalized route learning.
• Fuyao Architecture:
  • Full-domain 800V high-voltage platform.
  • Front and rear integrated die-casting technology.
  • CIBC (Cell Integrated Body Component) battery-body integration.
• Tianji AIOS:
  • The industry's first split-screen multi-tasking cockpit system.
  • Integrated XGPT Lingxi large model.
• Flying Car Project:
  • Land-based aircraft carrier split design.
  • Completed prototype testing in 2024.

Future Outlook

• Technology Planning:
  • Achieve a XNGP takeover rate of <1 time/100 km by 2025.
  • Launch the fourth-generation EEA architecture in 2026 (reducing costs by 40%).
  • The flying car project will enter the trial production stage in 2025.
• Market Expansion:
  • Expand overseas markets to 60 countries by 2025.
  • Target annual sales of 50,000 vehicles in the European market.
  • Launch 3 MONA series models in the 150,000 RMB market.
• Financial Goals:
  • Gross margin exceeding 20% in 2025.
  • Achieve positive operating cash flow in 2026.
  • Global Annual sales target 1 million units by 2030.

Li Auto

Why Choose It as an Autonomous Driving Stock?

Li Auto is selected as an autonomous driving-related stock primarily due to its comprehensive intelligent driving technology layout:

• Full-Stack Self-Developed Autonomous Driving System: Covering the entire chain of perception, decision-making, and control, equipped with LiDAR and high-precision sensors.
• Urban NOA (Navigate on Autopilot) Implementation: Completed complex road condition testing in Guangzhou in 2024, with plans to achieve nationwide coverage by 2025.
• Industry-Leading Computing Power Reserves: 4.5 EFLOPS cloud computing capability, large-scale procurement of NVIDIA cloud chips.
• Unique Business Model: Autonomous driving R&D is supported by vehicle sales, forming a closed business loop.
• Policy Alignment: Benefits from China's intelligent connected vehicle development plan, participating in the formulation of multiple national technology standards.

Company Overview

• Founded: July 2015
• Headquarters: Beijing, China
• Founder: Li Xiang (serial entrepreneur, founder of Autohome)
• Listing: NASDAQ (LI) / Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2015)
• Employees: Over 16,000 (2024 data)
• Production Bases: Changzhou main factory (annual production of 300,000 vehicles), Beijing Shunyi factory

Main Businesses

Business Segment	Description
Vehicle Manufacturing	Dual strategy of Extended-Range Electric Vehicles (EREV) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV).
Intelligent Driving Solutions	Full-stack self-developed ADAS system, covering highway/urban NOA, automatic parking, and smart cockpit interaction.
Energy Service System	Supercharging network construction, 800V high-voltage fast charging technology.
Software Services	In-vehicle operating system Li OS, OTA remote upgrade service.

Financial Information

Metric	2023 Data	2024 Forecast
Total Revenue	86.4 billion RMB	120 billion RMB
Net Profit	5.32 billion RMB	7.5 billion RMB
R&D Investment	11 billion RMB	15 billion RMB
Vehicle Deliveries	266,618 units	500,000+ units
Cash Reserves	99 billion RMB	110 billion RMB

Market Position

• Segment Leader: Top seller of high-end new energy SUVs over 300,000 RMB (market share of 23.6%).
• New Force Trio: Forms the "BHL"格局 (BYD, Huawei, Li Auto) with NIO and XPeng.
• Technology Reserve Ranking: Among the top three domestic car companies in the number of autonomous driving patents.
• Brand Premium Capability: Average selling price of 358,000 RMB, gross margin of 21.4% (industry-leading).

Major Partners and Customers

Strategic Partners:

• CATL (exclusive supplier of 4C Kirin batteries)
• NVIDIA (custom development of Orin chips)
• Huawei (joint development of smart cockpit systems)
• China Mobile (5G-V2X vehicle-road collaboration)

Core Customer Groups:

• Middle-class families in first- and second-tier cities in China (68%)
• High-end business vehicles for enterprises and institutions (22%)
• Overseas markets (Middle East/Central Asia, 10%)

Related Projects and Technologies

Key Technological Breakthroughs:

1. Mind GPT Artificial Intelligence Platform

   • 98.7% understanding accuracy rate for in-vehicle voice assistants.
   • Supports continuous dialogue and cross-scenario intention recognition.

2. 800V High-Voltage Pure Electric Platform

   • 300 kilometers of range with a 5-minute charge.
   • Uses silicon carbide power modules, reducing energy consumption by 15%.

3. Urban Navigation Assisted Driving

   • Mapless solution (BEV+Transformer).
   • 92.3% pass rate at complex intersections.

Mass Production Projects:

• Li Mega pure electric MPV (first to be equipped with 4C supercharging batteries)
• L series smart cockpit (five-screen three-dimensional interaction system)
• 4D immersive sound system (developed in collaboration with Dolby Laboratories)

Future Outlook

2025-2027 Strategic Plan:

• Product Matrix: Launch 5 new models (including 2 pure electric coupes).
• Technology Roadmap:
  • Achieve L4 autonomous driving prototype vehicles in 2025.
  • Mass-produce automotive-grade solid-state batteries in 2026.
• Global Layout:
  • European R&D center (Munich) starts operation.
  • Middle East supercharging network construction (planning 1000+ sites).
• Ecosystem Expansion:
• Smart home interconnection protocol (HiLink 3.0).
• Humanoid robot R&D project (industrial application direction).

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Stocks or financial products mentioned may carry significant risks. Please make investment decisions carefully and at your own risk.

Best of luck with your investments!