Xiaoma Zhixing's IPO is priced at $11 to $13 per share, raising approximately $378 million, with Beijing Auto and Guangzhou Auto participating in the subscription.

On November 14th, Chinese autonomous driving company Pony.ai submitted its red herring prospectus to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and officially started its IPO, planning to list on the NASDAQ under the stock code "PONY" in pursuit of becoming the "world's first Robotaxi stock". Pony.ai will issue 15 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) with a price range of $11 to $13 per ADS, with each ADS representing one share of common stock. If the underwriters fully exercise their over-allotment option, Pony.ai could issue up to 17.25 million ADS. Both Beiqi Group and Singaporean transportation operator ComfortDelGro have expressed interest in purchasing ADS in this IPO, with Beiqi Group indicating the highest commitment of $70.35 million and ComfortDelGro committing $4.5 million. In addition, various investors including Guangzhou Automobile Group's wholly-owned subsidiary Guangqi Capital will subscribe to a total of approximately $153.4 million in class A common stock through a strategic private placement. According to this offering plan, Pony.ai aims to raise a maximum of approximately $378 million in this IPO. Regarding the use of funds raised in this IPO, Pony.ai stated in the prospectus that approximately 40% of the IPO proceeds will be used for the commercialization and market expansion of autonomous driving ride-hailing and freight services, including production, sales, marketing, customer service, and industry collaboration; approximately 40% will be allocated to continuous research and development of autonomous driving technology; and approximately 20% will be used for potential strategic investments and acquisitions to enhance the company's technological capabilities and build an industry ecosystem. The prospectus also updated Pony.ai's financial data for the first three quarters of 2024. The overall revenue for the first three quarters increased by 85.5% year-on-year, with revenue from various businesses showing growth. In the first three quarters of 2024, Pony.ai's revenue from autonomous driving ride-hailing services was $4.7 million, a 422.2% increase year-on-year; revenue from autonomous driving freight services was $27.4 million, a 56.5% increase year-on-year; and revenue from technology licensing and application services was $7.4 million, a 155.2% increase year-on-year. With Beiqi, Guangqi participating in this IPO subscription, Toyota, Beiqi, Guangqi, and FAW have not only established strategic partnerships with Pony.ai, but also provided tangible financial support. Toyota and FAW participated in Pony.ai's Series C financing, with Toyota becoming Pony.ai's largest strategic investor in terms of shareholding, and Pony.ai being Toyota's only L4 autonomous driving partner in China. By collaborating with several top-tier car manufacturers, Pony.ai is accelerating the production and deployment of Robotaxi vehicles. It recently announced a partnership with Beiqi New Energy to develop an L4 autonomous driving vehicle based on the Jihu Alpha T5 model, with plans to deploy at least a thousand Beiqi New Energy Robotaxi vehicles in the domestic market. In April of this year, GAC Toyota, Toyota China, and Pony.ai established a joint venture company, ZuiFeng Intelligent Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd., with an investment of over 1 billion RMB, to launch a thousand Beiqi 4X Robotaxi vehicles in major cities in China by 2025-2026, with preparations already underway. In terms of globalization, Pony.ai is advancing the internationalization of its autonomous driving technology solutions and products in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and other regions. It is reported that ComfortDelGro, which participated in the IPO subscription, is an important partner for Pony.ai in promoting the globalization strategy of Robotaxi, with operations in 12 countries and a network of over 29,000 taxi operations worldwide. In July of this year, the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly promote the commercialization of driverless taxis in China and other countries and regions. As one of the early pioneers of Robotaxi in China, Pony.ai has achieved nine "firsts" in the Robotaxi industry in the country, including being the "first company to deploy a regular autonomous driving test fleet in China," the "first company to launch Robotaxi autonomous driving ride-hailing services in China," and the "first company to obtain Robotaxi service permits in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen." Public information shows that Pony.ai operates a fleet of over 250 driverless taxis in the four major cities in China, with Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen already providing fully driverless commercial services. In addition to its self-operated ride-hailing platform, Pony.ai is also connected to third-party ride-hailing platforms such as Amap, Alipay, and CHENQI TECH, continuously expanding the user base for Robotaxi. Pony.ai expects its Robotaxi business to achieve positive single-vehicle operating profit by 2025.