Momenta Global Ltd., the Chinese autonomous-driving company backed by Mercedes-Benz, aims to scale its robotaxi fleet from the hundreds to several thousand vehicles by the end of next year, with planned deployments in Dubai and additional European cities, Shuo Xie, head of the company's robotaxi business, told Reuters on September 291.
"The size of our robotaxi fleet will be in the hundreds at the end of this year and then it will be several thousand at the end of next year," Xie said in an online interview.
Momenta currently has more than 100 robotaxis deployed across three countries, with testing underway in five Chinese cities as well as in Munich and Abu Dhabi. The company operates two business lines: advanced driver-assistance software sold to automakers and the still-early-stage robotaxi service. Toyota and BYD are among its partners.
Momenta has been in talks with a "few" European cities for further expansion and plans to deploy vehicles in Dubai next year, Xie said, adding that Japan is also a priority market.
Founded by a former Microsoft researcher, Momenta raised approximately US$751 million in an initial public offering in Hong Kong in July. Its shares have since fallen roughly 45% from the IPO price, weighed down in part by caution about the outlook for Hong Kong-listed stocks.
Momenta competes with Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo and Pony.ai, among others, in the robotaxi market.
ANALYSIS The jump from roughly 100 deployed vehicles today to several thousand by the end of next year would represent an order-of-magnitude scale-up, spanning at least four geographic markets simultaneously. The 45% post-IPO share decline adds financial pressure to that timeline.