On July 31, 2024, BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) and Uber (NYSE: UBER) announced a multi-year strategic partnership to introduce 100,000 BYD electric vehicles into major markets. In other words, the global leaders in auto manufacturing and ride-sharing just joined hands to enter the robotaxi race.
Based on the partnership plan, cooperation will begin in Europe and Latin America, before expanding into the Middle East, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
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To incentivize drivers to use electric vehicles, Uber and BYD may introduce incentives around charging, vehicle maintenance, or insurance, as well as financing and leasing solutions catered to the specific needs of the given market.
Uber's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi shared his enthusiasm around this partnership saying that anytime an Uber driver switches to an EV, the gas emissions reduced are four times as high as that of ordinary drivers given how long Uber drivers are on the road daily.
Robotaxi ambitions
Most importantly, both parties will cooperate to develop self-driving BYD vehicles and deploy that fleet on Uber's ride-sharing platform.
In the press release, Uber praised BYD, saying that the company's EVs are not only affordable, but also of great quality with low maintenance and repair costs, very suitable for ride-hailing.
Uber's ambition for a driverless ride-hailing business is no secret, as it has also partnered with Waymo to bring robotaxis on its app and is already available in Phoenix.
Note that Uber ceased operating in China in August 2016, when it announced selling its Chinese operations to Didi Chuxing. Hence, this collaboration will only bring BYD robotaxis to markets outside of China.
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Nonetheless, BYD has plans to solve L4 autonomy within the mainland.
On June 4, 2024, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced that 9 automakers made it to a pilot list for L3/L4 autonomous driving, including BYD, NIO, Changan, GAC, SAIC, BAIC BluePark, FAW, SAIC, and Yutong Bus.
In China, XPeng Motors shares the robotaxi ambition and plans to launch its own version in 2026.
Over 500,000 vehicles exported overseas
Currently, BYD is selling plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles in over 80 countries and regions around the world.
BYD exported 203,218 vehicles globally in 2024, which ranks 3rd for a Chinese automaker, behind MG with 230,940 and Chery with 420,420 exports.
In June 2022, BYD exported 2,177 vehicles overseas. Fast forward two years, the Chinese automaker exported over 10x more in June 2024, totalling 26,972 vehicles.
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BYD exported as many as 41,011 vehicles in April and has exported over 500,000 units in total since January 2020, when the company started its oversea expansion.
Looking at wholesale sales, which includes domestic and export volume, BYD's sales in 2024 continue to exceed prior year's sales by a sizeable margin every month except for February.
In June, BYD beat its wholesale sales record with 324,838 units, previously set in December of last year.
JP Morgan expects BYD to reach 6 million global deliveries by 2026. As of June, BYD has already delivered 1.5 million vehicles in 2024.