Pony.ai, a Chinese autonomous driving system startup, announced its unaudited financial results for Q1 2026 (January-March), showing revenue of 236 million yuan (approx. 5.428 billion yen), a 2.5-fold increase year-on-year, while net loss expanded by 43.0% to 369 million yuan (approx. 8.487 billion yen).

Revenue from the autonomous driving taxi (robotaxi) business reached 59.12 million yuan (approx. 1.35976 billion yen), a 5.0-fold increase, surpassing half of the full-year 2025 revenue (116 million yuan) and setting a new quarterly record. Fare revenue swelled 5.6 times, becoming the most significant growth area. As of May, the number of domestic registered users exceeded three times that of the same period last year.

Following a strong start, the company revised upwards its annual revenue target for the robotaxi business in 2026 from 3 times to 3.5 times or more of 2025, and its vehicle fleet size from 3,000 units to 3,500 units or more, respectively, stating that it would expand services to over 20 cities both domestically and internationally.

Driven by the explosive expansion of the robotaxi business and the rapid growth of the Smart Solutions Business (formerly Technology Transfer and Application Business), gross profit increased 2.4 times to 38.36 million yuan (approx. 882.28 million yen). As of the end of March, the combined balances of cash equivalents, short-term, and long-term asset management investments totaled 9.902 billion yuan (approx. 227.746 billion yen), indicating abundant capital strongly supporting its long-term scaling strategy.

Peng Jun, CEO and co-founder, stated, '2026 has started off strong. Our large vehicle fleet, excellent technology and operational capabilities, and high-quality user experience are our core competitive advantages. Through a dual-engine strategy focusing on China and overseas and a co-operative vehicle operation model, we will continue to drive revenue growth and strengthen our position as a top company in the industry.' (Provided by Xinhua News Agency)