Aurora (AUR.US) driverless truck mass production delayed again: this year's target of 200 vehicles missed, 2026 revenue guidance missed, expected to get back on track in 2027

Aurora Innovation Inc. (AUR.US), the self-driving truck company, said in its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday US Eastern Time that it expects to miss this year's production target, but noted it is on track to get back on schedule in 2027. Aurora said supplier issues have created constraints, and the company will not be able to get 200 trucks on the road before February next year. That means Aurora will miss its 2026 revenue target. Chief Financial Officer David Maday said in an interview that the supplier issues have been resolved, and the production schedule is now expected to meet the previously announced target of 1,000 trucks on the road by the end of 2027. Looking ahead, demand from nine different customers already exceeds the company's capacity. "We do believe we're at a commercial inflection point," Maday said in an interview along the truck assembly line at the Roush Enterprises Inc. plant in suburban Detroit, which handles final assembly of Aurora's trucks. Aurora aims to have 30,000 trucks on the road by the end of 2030, and as that goal approaches, the company intends to shift its business model. Instead of owning and operating self-driving trucks itself to provide services to customers, the trucks will be owned by freight customers' own fleets. According to Maday, the company should achieve positive cash flow in 2028, when revenue rises and book assets decline. To achieve that goal, Aurora will have to raise capital. The company currently has a credit facility and has not ruled out additional equity financing. Aurora has been through a series of ups and downs since going public via a special purpose acquisition company in 2021. In 2022, the company implemented cost-cutting measures as investors lost interest in funding autonomous driving companies. At the time, CEO Chris Urmson sent a memo to employees listing various ways to preserve cash. Urmson even raised the idea of selling the company to tech giants such as Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) or Apple Inc. (AAPL.US). The company struggled through the trough and completed a funding round in 2024, but at the same time pushed back the milestone for fully driverless commercial truck operations to 2025. Co-founder Sterling Anderson left in May last year to become Chief Product Officer at General Motors Company (GM.US). Aurora's stock once exceeded $17 per share after going public and is currently around $5 per share. Aurora's path to mass production has not been smooth. The company already achieved driverless operation with safety drivers removed from trucks last year, but partner automaker PACCAR Inc (PCAR.US), out of caution, required a driver to remain in the vehicle. The company is now working with PACCAR Inc on a plan to completely eliminate in-cab safety drivers in the next-generation model. Its current trucks are manufactured by International Motors, a unit of Germany's Traton Group. "PACCAR Inc is a conservative, risk-averse company," Maday said. "They assessed it from a liability risk perspective and insisted on keeping a person in the vehicle." At the Roush plant, workers complete the final production steps, upgrading trucks with the driverless control system and a suite of cameras, lidar and sensors. The plant will produce up to 20 autonomous Class 8 trucks per week in December. Maday said they could double capacity. Aurora successfully removed the driver in July. Customers including Hirschbach Motor Lines, McLane Co. and Detmar Logistics are conducting driverless operations. "Our story logic is now very clear," Maday said. "We've achieved driverless operation, we're producing trucks, and we have ample demand this year and next."