China's WeRide eyes Australia, Southeast Asia among potential new markets after strong Q2

WeRide's global robotaxi fleet exceeded 1,800 vehicles as of the end of July, part of a level 4 autonomous fleet of about 3,400 vehicles that also includes robobuses and robosweepers.

Han said the company was confident of reaching its target of deploying 5,000 vehicles of high automation level 4 by the end of this year, including 2,600 robotaxis.

Beyond its jointly developed purpose-built robotaxi with Geely Farizon, WeRide is also co-developing another robotaxi model with GAC 601238.SS that is expected to deliver further hardware cost reductions, he said.

The company's longer-term goal is to deploy robotaxis in the tens of thousands by 2030 before expanding to 1 million vehicles by 2035.

Robotaxis aside, Han said WeRide was seeing strong demand from both Chinese and international automakers for its advanced driver-assistance systems, which he expects to become "a very profitable business" for the company.