Release Date: March 14, 2025
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Q: What is WeRide's current robotaxi business model and its latest progress? A: Jennifer Lee, CFO: WeRide's robotaxi business model involves providing autonomous vehicles and services to local partners and global platforms through vehicle sales, fixed service fees, and revenue sharing. This ensures a positive contribution margin from day one. Internationally, WeRide collaborates with leading platforms for faster deployment and better fleet utilization. In China, WeRide operates its own platform and expects unit economics to turn positive in the coming years.
Q: Could you elaborate on WeRide's current market position in the robotaxi industry, both domestically and globally? A: Tony Han, CEO: WeRide maintains a leading position in the robotaxi segment, with a large global fleet and excellent safety records. WeRide is the only company with autonomous driving permits from four countries and operates in complex environments. The company has a scalable operation setup and a strong technological foundation, ensuring its leadership in the industry.
Q: What major challenges does WeRide foresee while scaling its robotaxi operations, and how does it view the future competitive landscape? A: Yan Li, CTO: Challenges include city-level regulatory acceptance and scaling fleet operations. WeRide addresses these by gradually introducing products and building trust with local governments. The competitive landscape has high entry barriers, with only a few top players. WeRide's technological advancements and business model position it well to maintain leadership.
Q: What is WeRide's path to profitability for its robotaxi business, and why expand internationally instead of focusing solely on the domestic market? A: Jennifer Lee, CFO: WeRide's business model ensures positive margins from day one. The break-even point varies by market, but high utilization rates can achieve profitability even with a small fleet. International expansion diversifies revenue streams and leverages strong demand in markets with aging populations and high labor costs, offering higher growth margins than the domestic market.
Q: What are WeRide's next milestones regarding technology and product development, and how is it deploying end-to-end models and VLM in its L4 system? A: Tony Han, CEO: In 2025, WeRide plans to deploy hundreds of vehicles globally with advanced technology to reduce costs and enhance reliability. The company is developing a next-generation domain controller with Lenovo and Nvidia. WeRide's end-to-end models and vision language models (VLM) are integrated into its systems, enhancing navigation capabilities and ensuring safety.
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
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