In recent years, the domestic and international autonomous driving markets have seen a surge in enthusiasm, with a continuous influx of both capital and technological advancements.

On November 6th, the domestic autonomous driving sector marked a significant milestone as Pony.ai and WeRide officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, achieving dual listings on both the US and Hong Kong stock exchanges. This landmark event not only opened new financing avenues for the two companies but also further encouraged more enterprises to intensify their strategic positioning in this sector.

Behind the glamorous listings, however, lies a harsh financial reality. Amidst fierce technological competition, leading companies, including Mogu Auto Link, Pony.ai, and WeRide, are generally struggling with losses. Financial report data indicates that in the first three quarters of 2025, Pony.ai incurred a net loss of $152 million, a 62.1% increase year-on-year, while WeRide reported a net loss of 1.099 billion yuan.

When capital enthusiasm clashes with profitability challenges, when will the prospects of the autonomous driving industry truly translate into “financial prosperity”?

Mogu Auto Link: Prosperity Hides Underlying Concerns

While the autonomous driving industry predominantly focuses on the “single-vehicle intelligence” technological route, Mogu Auto Link has taken a differentiated approach by delving deeply into two strategic directions: AI networks and autonomous driving, promoting the widespread application of integrated vehicle-road-cloud technologies.

At the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Mogu Auto Link unveiled MogoMind, the first large model capable of deeply understanding the physical world. Centered around this self-developed large model, it has constructed an AI network that encompasses the real world, enabling AI not only to perceive reality but also to understand and influence it.

In terms of AI networks, Mogu Auto Link collaborates with local governments to advance intelligent traffic management, with implementations in multiple cities across the country. By reconstructing the underlying logic of data, cities, transportation, travel, and services, it provides real-time intelligent optimization solutions and strategic recommendations for urban governance, public transportation, and daily life.

In autonomous driving, based on the “MogoMind Physical AI Large Model + Autonomous Driving” technology, Mogu Auto Link has jointly launched multiple mass-produced vehicle models with automakers, including RoboBus, RoboTaxi, and RoboSweeper, which have been deployed in various scenarios such as public transportation, urban sanitation, and unmanned retail.

It is reported that Mogu Auto Link's RoboBus is currently operating in 10 provinces across the country, with over 150 vehicles in operation, having safely traveled over 2 million kilometers and served more than 200,000 passengers.

However, Mogu Auto Link is not without concerns. The sustainability and profitability of its business model are core challenges it must directly confront.

Currently, Mogu Auto Link's business model is relatively singular, heavily reliant on government orders with lengthy payment cycles, posing significant cash flow pressures. Despite the strong endorsement of government projects, their cumbersome approval processes and lengthy decision-making chains require enterprises to continuously advance substantial expenditures for road renovations, equipment R&D, and operational maintenance, leading to sustained capital pressures.

Meanwhile, despite the deployment of autonomous driving products in multiple scenarios, large-scale operations still face dual constraints of high costs and insufficient user willingness to pay. Taking Robotaxi as an example, R&D, production, and operational costs remain high, while market acceptance and willingness to pay for driverless taxis are still unstable. If Mogu Auto Link cannot effectively reduce costs, increase efficiency, and construct a sustainable profit model, its long-term cash flow will face severe tests.

In the future, whether Mogu Auto Link can break free from its sole reliance on government orders and optimize its financial structure will directly impact its future survival and development space.

Pony.ai: High Growth Yet to Bring Profitability

Within a year, Pony.ai not only achieved dual listings on the US and Hong Kong stock exchanges but also set the record for the largest IPO in the global autonomous driving industry in 2025.

Capital market confidence in Pony.ai stems from its solid business foundation and clear growth path. Financial report data shows that in 2025, Pony.ai achieved rapid revenue growth for three consecutive quarters: total revenue was 102 million yuan in the first quarter, 154 million yuan in the second quarter, and a record 181 million yuan in the third quarter.

Over the years, Pony.ai has adopted a dual-business line parallel strategy of “Robotaxi + Robotruck,” covering two core scenarios of travel and logistics, and has achieved remarkable results.

In the Robotaxi sector, Pony.ai's commercial operations are gradually gaining market recognition. As of November 23, 2025, Pony.ai possesses 961 Robotaxis, including 667 seventh-generation models. The fleet has accumulated a safe driving mileage of over 55 million kilometers, with fully driverless road test mileage exceeding 10 million kilometers.

In the third quarter of 2025, Robotaxi business revenue reached $6.7 million, an 89.5% increase year-on-year, with passenger fare revenue surging by over 200% year-on-year.

In the Robotruck sector, Pony.ai continues to consolidate its leading advantage with its forward-looking strategic positioning. With the official launch of the fourth-generation autonomous driving trucks, the BOM cost of single-vehicle autonomous driving suites has been significantly reduced by 70% compared to the previous generation, markedly enhancing product economics and market competitiveness.

In the third quarter of 2025, Robotruck service revenue reached $10.29 million, an 8.7% increase year-on-year, demonstrating steady growth driven by both cost optimization and commercialization.

However, Pony.ai's listing journey was not without challenges. On November 6th, Pony.ai listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with an issue price of HK$139 per share. However, it encountered a break in issuance upon opening, debuting at HK$124 per share, a 10.79% decline from the issue price, with the largest intraday drop exceeding 14%, echoing its previous lackluster performance in the US stock market listing.

The market's cautious attitude highlights realistic concerns about its profitability path and long-term financial pressures.

Financial reports reveal that Pony.ai's revenue for the first nine months of 2025 was $60.88 million, with a gross profit of $10.45 million, an operating loss of $187 million, and a net loss of $152 million, reflecting that despite rapid revenue growth, it has not yet escaped the profitability dilemmas commonly faced in the industry.

Notably, just before its listing, Pony.ai faced public doubts from competitors. Li Xuan, the CFO of WeRide, issued a statement in an analyst community, questioning the authenticity of multiple pieces of information in Pony.ai's Hong Kong stock IPO roadshow materials regarding operational regions and data, and demanded immediate corrections, plunging Pony.ai into a public opinion controversy.

In conclusion, despite Pony.ai's continuous exploration of commercialization paths through the dual tracks of Robotaxi and Robotruck, how to control losses amidst high growth and achieve sustainable, large-scale profitability remains a core challenge it must address.

WeRide: Glory Hides Escalating Risks

WeRide, which listed on the Hong Kong stock market on the same day as Pony.ai, occupies a significant position in the industry with its systematic technological platform and diverse product matrix.

Centered around its self-developed “WeRide One” autonomous driving universal platform, WeRide has constructed five major product lines covering three scenarios: smart travel (Robotaxi, Robobus), smart freight (Robovan), and smart sanitation (Robosweeper), supplemented by combined assisted driving solutions.

The model of one platform, multiple scenario deployments effectively dilutes the high underlying R&D costs and enhances technological reuse efficiency, enabling rapid responses to market demands across different segments.

Meanwhile, WeRide has established significant global commercial and operational first-mover advantages. It has obtained autonomous driving licenses in seven countries, including China, the US, the UAE, Singapore, and France, demonstrating its ability to meet stringent standards in multiple nations. It also collaborates with Uber to operate the largest commercialized Robotaxi fleet outside of China and the US in the Middle East.

According to CI Consulting, based on revenue in 2024, WeRide is the second-largest enterprise globally in the L4 and above autonomous driving sector on urban roads, with a market share of 21.8%.

However, behind its impressive strategic positioning, WeRide is facing a series of severe challenges, with its growth sustainability questioned.

The most direct pressure is reflected in its sustained financial performance. Financial report data shows that from 2022 to 2024, WeRide's revenue was 528 million yuan, 402 million yuan, and 361 million yuan, respectively, with revenue declining year after year. Additionally, from 2022 to 2024, its gross profit was 233 million yuan, 183 million yuan, and 111 million yuan, respectively, also showing a year-on-year decline.

A deeper structural risk lies in its high customer concentration and revenue reliance on a few major clients. Once key clients are lost, revenue will experience a cliff-like decline.

Prospectus data reveals that revenue attributable to WeRide's top five clients for 2022, 2023, 2024, and the six months ending June 30, 2025, was 416 million yuan, 308 million yuan, 169 million yuan, and 96 million yuan, respectively, accounting for 78.8%, 76.6%, 46.8%, and 48.4% of the corresponding annual total revenue.

With its platform-based technological architecture, diverse product matrix, and established global operational network, WeRide occupies a favorable position in the long race of autonomous driving. In the future, its ability to mitigate the risks of concentration dependence and reverse the trend of declining revenue will be crucial for its long-term, healthy commercial success.

Survival Rules: Building Closed Loops, Navigating Cycles

The autonomous driving industry has transitioned from a technological competition to a commercial capability competition.

In this brutal elimination race, regardless of the technological routes and business models chosen by autonomous driving manufacturers, the survivors who can navigate through the cycles will undoubtedly be those pragmatists who can precisely match technologies to high-value commercial scenarios and construct strong business resilience.

Firstly, deeply understand the boundaries of technological capabilities and precisely match them to scenario pain points that can create the greatest commercial value. Secondly, possess a diversified and healthy client structure, sustainable cash flow or financing capabilities, and a flexible cost control system to withstand the impact of single client losses, policy fluctuations, or capital winters. Moreover, the business model must generate real revenue, high-quality data, and sustained technological progress, which mutually reinforce each other to form endogenous growth momentum, rather than relying forever on external support.

Currently, the autonomous driving industry is at a critical juncture of navigating through cycles. The different paths represented by Mogu Auto Link, Pony.ai, and WeRide are all important explorations of future possibilities. Only those enterprises capable of constructing solid business closed loops will survive the shakeout and truly step into a phase of sustainable prosperity.