Pony.ai to more than double robotaxi fleet this year

Pony.ai, a Guangzhou-based autonomous driving firm, said it expects to more than double its fleet of robotaxis powered by its technology to more than 3,000 vehicles across more than 20 cities worldwide this year.

The company also plans to expand into Croatia’s capital, Zagreb

Pony.ai said nearly half of the fleet would be overseas, and that Zagreb would host what it says would be Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service.

Pony.ai said Croatian startup Verne will run local fleet operations, and the service will be available through Uber’s ride-hailing app.

The company said its total fleet reached 1,446 vehicles, up from fewer than 300 a year earlier.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Beyond the headline profit, unit economics are the real story

Pony.ai reported its first profitable quarter, yet the US$75.5 million net income mainly came from gains tied to the higher fair value of trading securities (market-value changes in investments the company holds), not the robotaxi business 1.
The company kept spending on growth. Its non-GAAP net loss (a non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles measure that excludes certain accounting items) grew 31.5% in 2025 as operating expenses rose with business expansion and enhanced R&D (research and development) capabilities 2.
The bigger step came from city-wide unit economics breakeven (reaching a point where revenue covers the direct costs of operating the service) for robotaxis in Guangzhou in November 2025, then Shenzhen in February 2026 2.
Service performance backed that progress. A single vehicle in Shenzhen brought in a record RMB 394 (approx. US$56) from 25 orders in one day 1.

A capital-light model for autonomous vehicle deployment emerges

The Uber and Verne (a Croatian startup) partnership in Zagreb outlines a capital-light approach to robotaxi growth. Fleet ownership and local operations sit with a partner, which lowers balance sheet exposure for Uber and Pony.ai 3.
Pony.ai supplies the autonomous driving system, Verne owns and runs the fleet, and Uber brings riders through its ride-hailing app 4.
The setup matches Pony.ai’s “joint deployment model.” Partners pay for vehicles while Pony.ai provides the autonomous driving system and takes a share of operating revenue, which supports fleet growth without Pony.ai buying every car 2.
This approach lets ride-hailing platforms add autonomous vehicles (AVs) without taking on fleet ownership risk. It could speed AV rollout across the industry 3.