Leading Chinese autonomous driving startups are expanding their robotaxi fleets despite a temporary regulatory tightening sparked by a mass vehicle failure in March, reports Caixin.
Pony.ai reported a fleet of more than 1,700 vehicles as of May 24, up by roughly 250 cars from two months earlier. The company also upgraded its 2026 fleet target from 3,000 to 3,500 vehicles. Similarly, WeRide expanded its domestic fleet to about 1,000 cars by the end of April, an increase of roughly 200 vehicles since late March. Baidu did not disclose Apollo Go’s exact fleet size, but reported completing 3.2 million orders in the first quarter, a 120% year-on-year surge, with peak weekly orders surpassing 350,000 in March.
The regulatory shift stems from a March 31 incidentin the central city of Wuhan, where nearly 100 robotaxis operated by Baidu subsidiary Apollo Go suddenly stalled in a coordinated system failure. In mid-April, three central government ministries ordered industry-wide rectifications to improve safety oversight.