Pony.ai (PONY.US) has completed the conditions for the scale-up of its Robotruck, and the mass production of its fourth-generation heavy trucks has begun, marking the start of a journey towards a thousand units.

As the autonomous driving industry focuses on profitability breakthroughs for Robotaxis, Pony.ai (PONY.US) has already made a crucial leap from technology R&D to mass production in another trillion-level market. On August 5, 2026, He Xing, Vice President and head of the Truck Division at Pony.ai, announced at a media communication event that the companys fourth-generation Robotruck has officially rolled off the production line at SANY Heavy Trucks manufacturing facility, and the first L4 level unmanned light truck has also begun running tests in real-world operational scenarios. This signifies that Pony.ai's truck business has officially transitioned from the "verification phase" to the "scale-up phase," with a goal of deploying 500 to 1,000 heavy trucks in the next 2 to 3 years, using light trucks as a lever to drive steep growth in the urban distribution market. According to GMTEight, Pony.ai's truck story began in 2018. At that time, the team purchased vehicles directly from heavy truck dealerships and spent over six months validating the technical feasibility of "one set of code operating both large and small vehicles." He Xing acknowledged that this kind of demo-level modification posed a "huge hurdle" for large-scale operations. The strategy of simultaneously developing both Robotaxi and Robotruck has long captured market attention. At this communication meeting, He Xing provided quantifiable indicators in response to external questions for the first time: the code reuse degree between heavy trucks and Robotaxis exceeds 80%, while the hardware reuse (sensor types and model support) exceeds 90%; with light trucks, the reuse degree exceeds 90%. This super synergy means that the data accumulated, the validated safety capabilities, and the 24/7 operational experience from Robotaxis in complex urban scenarios can be directly transferred to the truck business. He Xing pointed out that the complexity of urban roadway scenarios and data density is far greater than on highways, and the iteration efficiency of Robotaxis significantly raises the capability ceiling of the entire autonomous driving system. Conversely, the operational experience of truck business in long-haul, ports, and other scenarios provides a more comprehensive capacity supplement for the system. Regarding the business scenarios for Pony.ais Robotruck, He Xing explained that they primarily focus on mainline logistics, bulk fleet operations, and ports. "Taking trunk logistics as an example, the company plans to create a 'driverless heavy-duty truck demonstration zone' along the country's iconic long-haul trunk lines, in conjunction with the national smart driving strategy for freight vehicles and the inter-provincial recognition mechanism for autonomous driving licenses, gradually unlocking the business model," he revealed. For routes like Beijing to Guangzhou, which involve single journeys of one to two thousand kilometers, human drivers are often limited by physical constraints, requiring logistics companies to assign two to three drivers for shifts. In contrast, unmanned heavy trucks can operate continuously 24 hours a day, achieving breakthroughs in time dimensions. Simultaneously advancing with heavy trucks is the L4 level unmanned light truck aimed at urban delivery. This product is defined by Pony.ai as "the new benchmark for unmanned urban delivery," with a cargo volume of 18 to 20 cubic meters, a battery capacity of 100 to 140 kWh, and a range of 320 to 450 kilometers, capable of operating at 70 km/h on urban roads and on high-speed expressways. Xiao Ping, head of product development for the truck division, pointed out that the current number of motor vehicles in urban logistics is approximately 14 million, among which 4.2-meter light trucks account for about 8 million, making them an absolute mainstream carrier. Compared to low-speed unmanned logistics vehicles on the market that are 5 to 6 cubic meters, Pony.ai's light truck holds generational advantages in four dimensions: "more, faster, farther, and cheaper," with per-kilometer freight costs saving nearly 50% compared to traditional solutions. Currently, this model has established substantial cooperation with well-known logistics and express delivery groups and is entering real operational testing scenarios. He Xing anticipates that once the license system path is validated, the light truck business will show a "very steep upward curve" in the coming year or two. In response to market concerns regarding inter-city operation policies, Xiao Ping stated, "Since the demonstration of commercialized autonomous driving across provinces in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in 2024, the mutual recognition mechanism between provinces and cities has been accelerated, and provinces like Inner Mongolia have opened up mutual recognition across leagues. For N1 class unmanned light trucks, the policy path almost completely reuses that of Robotaxis, with substantial breakthroughs on road rights expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year." Of course, where there is market landing, there will be market competition. Addressing the competition, He Xing candidly stated that the current scale of the autonomous logistics market is still small, far from reaching a zero-sum game stage, and Pony.ai will not enter the Robovan sector in the short term, Pony.ai always finishes thoroughly with one project before considering others, he added.