WeRide Releases Q2 Report with 836.7% Revenue Growth in Robotaxi Business

On July 31, WeRide released its financial report for the second quarter of 2025.

The most eye - catching data comes from the Robotaxi business. The revenue reached 45.9 million yuan, a significant year - on - year increase of 836.7%, setting a new single - quarter record since the company's establishment. The proportion of the Robotaxi business in the second - quarter revenue increased significantly to 36.1%, reaching a new single - quarter high since 2021.

Driven by the Robotaxi business, WeRide's overall financial performance also showed a high - growth trend. The total revenue was 127 million yuan, a year - on - year increase of 60.8%, and the gross profit was 35.7 million yuan, a year - on - year increase of 40.6%.

However, WeRide has not yet achieved profitability. The loss in the current quarter was 406 million yuan, and the year - on - year loss has narrowed.

WeRide's future largely depends on Robotaxi. And this field has welcomed competitors like Tesla. How will WeRide respond?

Significant Growth of Robotaxi

Recently, WeRide has been receiving continuous good news about its Robotaxi business. However, more shrewd investors will ask: How is its financial performance?

The second - quarter report gave a wonderful response.

Li Xuan, CFO and International Head of WeRide, said that as the international layout of the Robotaxi business continues to expand in regions including Abu Dhabi, the economics of a single vehicle continue to improve, and the commercial viability is becoming increasingly clear. "With the support of our global strategic partners, we are approaching a critical turning point. It is becoming a reality to efficiently operate a Robotaxi fleet with a sustainable single - vehicle economic model."

When answering analysts' questions, Li Xuan further explained the reasons for the revenue growth of the Robotaxi business.

Li Xuan said that first, the expansion of the fleet. A larger fleet size will directly translate into higher revenue.

Second, WeRide's Robotaxi business has "three growth engines": starting with hardware sales, followed by service revenue, and then revenue sharing. "Hardware sales are the cornerstone of the current growth. As the operation matures, service revenue and the sharing model will bring long - term growth space."

Third, WeRide focuses on markets with better unit economic benefits, especially regions with a relatively high per - kilometer price. This is a key factor in efficiently expanding revenue.

Which regions are more profitable?

Li Xuan said that the market potential and unit economic benefits in regions such as the Middle East, Singapore, and Europe are very attractive for Robotaxi deployment.

Indeed, WeRide has significantly accelerated its layout in these places.

In Abu Dhabi, UAE, the size of WeRide's Robotaxi fleet has tripled since 2024. The total service area covers nearly half of the core urban area of Abu Dhabi, and the order volume is expected to double. Moreover, WeRide plans to conduct the first fully driverless Robotaxi road test in the Middle East here.

In Dubai, WeRide recently signed a cooperation agreement with Uber and the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (as shown in the picture below) to deploy commercial Robotaxi travel services in Dubai. It is expected to start trial operations this year and plans to start fully driverless Robotaxi commercial operations in 2026.

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, WeRide's Robotaxi obtained the first autonomous driving license in Saudi Arabia. This is the first Robotaxi trial - operation service in Saudi Arabia and currently the only one in the country.

So far, WeRide has become the only technology company in the world whose products hold autonomous driving licenses in six countries.

In China, WeRide has also joined hands with Chery and Jinjiang Taxi and been approved to carry out a demonstration application service of manned autonomous driving on public roads without a driver in the driver's seat in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, in accordance with regulations.

In the process of expanding the Robotaxi business, WeRide rarely acts alone. It often promotes the business in cooperation with strategic partners.

Han Xu, CEO of WeRide, said that WeRide's strategy is to establish in - depth and win - win cooperation relationships with top - tier travel service providers in the market. "We focus on our area of expertise, which is the research and development of L4 - level autonomous driving technology. Our powerful partners will give full play to their expertise in operation and maintenance, market expansion, and customer service. This cooperation will form an alliance to provide users with the highest - quality services."

He gave several examples, including the cooperation with Uber. "Our cooperation with Uber not only includes its second - round investment but also sets an example for our joint entry into new international markets. We provide autonomous driving technology, and they bring in the full - process operation capabilities in the Middle East."

Han Xu believes that the advantage of this strategy is to seize the first - mover advantage. "By cooperating with powerful local and global operators, we not only shorten the time to market but also build a scalable ecosystem integrating cutting - edge technology and mature operations. This is how we achieve scale."

How to Compete with Tesla?

Recently, the hottest event in the Robotaxi industry is that Tesla has officially joined. How should WeRide compete with such a giant?

Han Xu said that Robotaxi is a crucial field with huge market potential. In the past 10 years, many competitors have entered the field every day. "When we were founded in 2017, there were already many well - known giants and startups involved."

"The competition in the Robotaxi field has lasted for more than 8 years. In these 8 years, WeRide has grown into a globally leading autonomous driving and Robotaxi company, expanding its business to more than 10 cities and multiple countries and holding licenses in 6 countries. Therefore, we are very confident in our competitiveness."

Han Xu believes that what sets WeRide apart is its ability to provide safe, reliable, and large - scale public transportation services. "We started providing public Robotaxi services in 2019. We are proud that in the past more than 2,200 days of operation, there have been no regulatory penalties due to autonomous driving system failures, which is an excellent safety record."

Looking to the future, Han Xu believes that WeRide's competitive advantages are reflected in multiple aspects.

In terms of technology, WeRide has launched the HPC 3.0 computing platform, which is the most advanced in the world. In terms of products and algorithms, WeRide has strong adaptability. In some cities, it can complete the deployment from scratch within two weeks. In terms of business models, WeRide has successfully built a win - win model with local partners.

WeRide's recently launched HPC 3.0 computing platform is quite eye - catching. It is the world's first Robotaxi platform equipped with NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor X chips. With the support of two NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor X chips, the platform can provide 2,000 TOPS of AI computing power, far exceeding the 500 - 1000 TOPS of competitors.

Moreover, this platform is a 100% automotive - grade computing platform, which can also help reduce the cost of the GXR autonomous driving kit by 50%.

Currently, the HPC 3.0 has been installed on vehicles and is in operation. Han Xu said that with the help of this enhanced computing platform, they have launched a breakthrough "get - on and get - off at any point" function in Yizhuang, Beijing. As long as it complies with municipal regulations, users can get off at any permitted street, greatly improving the user experience.

Regarding the debate on technical routes, Han Xu said that no matter which solution is adopted, the final goal must be to provide autonomous driving taxi services that are safe, reliable, affordable, user - friendly, and highly utilized.

"It should be emphasized that currently, there is only one company in the world that can simultaneously achieve two things: one is to provide autonomous driving taxi services using L4 - level autonomous driving technology, and the other is to provide autonomous driving systems for mass - produced vehicles - that is WeRide. We can provide a full range of autonomous driving systems and algorithms from L2+ to L4."

"Our L4 - level vehicles have achieved driver - less operation in Beijing and Guangzhou with excellent performance, comparable to Waymo's operation in San Francisco and Los Angeles. We have built the most advanced end - to - end model. As mentioned before, we are also integrating the basic large - scale model. Our autonomous driving system has been adopted by many mainstream automakers, and the user experience is very good."

Han Xu is very confident. "By simultaneously promoting L4 - level and L2+ - level autonomous driving technologies, we are building a technology platform that is expected to break through the performance bottleneck of traditional autonomous driving systems and achieve a higher level of generalization. This is why we can support a wide range of urban travel applications and successfully deploy in 10 different countries under various conditions."

Advantages and Disadvantages of Multiple Products

The growth momentum of the Robotaxi business is very strong, but it only accounts for 36.1% of WeRide's total revenue.

Different from other Robotaxi companies, WeRide has a wide range of product lines. It has both L2 products for mass - produced cars and L4 - level autonomous driving. In the L4 - level autonomous driving field, in addition to Robotaxi, there are also Robobus (autonomous minibus), unmanned logistics vehicles, and unmanned sanitation vehicles.

In terms of Robobus, WeRide has launched the first fully driverless Robobus operation in Southeast Asia in Singapore, leading the intelligent travel market in Southeast Asia. In Saudi Arabia, it has deployed Robobus, covering multiple areas such as AlUla. In Paris, France, it has provided Robobus shuttle services for the French Open for two consecutive years and carried out the first night - time autonomous minibus shuttle service in Europe.

For the unmanned logistics vehicle, WeRide's W5 obtained the first road test license for unmanned equipment in Huangpu District, Guangzhou, China.

WeRide's unmanned sweeper S1 entered Saudi Arabia for the first time and launched the first intelligent sanitation commercial project in the Middle East in Riyadh.

With such a long product line, why not focus on Robotaxi?

Han Xu said that although WeRide has multiple products, it adopts a "one - platform" strategy - that is, to build a general platform called "WeRide One".

Han Xu believes that this strategy has multiple advantages.

"First, it allows us to obtain a large amount of high - quality and diverse data. That is to say, the data collected by unmanned sweepers or unmanned buses can also be used to optimize Robotaxi."

Especially for a large number of "long - tail edge scenarios", we cannot guarantee to capture them only through Robotaxi. "But if we have unmanned sweepers and unmanned buses all over the city, the probability of capturing these precious edge scenarios will increase by 4 to 5 times, thus continuously optimizing the system."

Second, from the perspective of market expansion, the reality is that not all markets are ready to embrace full - scale Robotaxi services. "Taking Paris, Singapore, and Japan as examples, these regions are facing the problems of an aging population and a shrinking public transportation workforce. For them, unmanned buses are often the entry point for autonomous driving. Starting with short - distance shuttles helps build public trust and gives regulators time to formulate appropriate frameworks. This is a wise move to avoid the 'cold - start problem' of new technologies."

Han Xu also used himself as an example. Thanks to these products, WeRide has established cooperation with governments of many countries. "I have been appointed as a member of the Singapore Autonomous Driving Committee."

"With these products, we have obtained more opportunities, significantly improved the data collection efficiency, and also enhanced the economies of scale in the supply chain. I believe this strategy is one of the key factors for WeRide's success."

However, Robotaxi is obviously the growth engine of WeRide and also the greatest hope for WeRide to achieve commercial success.

Li Xuan revealed that WeRide is steadily promoting the acquisition of Robotaxi licenses and business expansion in China. Abroad, it is acting quickly to seize the early opportunities in "developed countries". "Our goal is to expand the global fleet size to hundreds of vehicles this year and is expected to reach thousands of vehicles next year, focusing on markets where demand, policy support, and infrastructure are all in place."

This article is from the WeChat official account "Cyber - car" (ID: Cyber - car), author: Qiu Kaijun, editor: Zhang Lianyi. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.