Volkswagen's China unit has also secured approval to trial autonomous driving systems on Chinese public roads, testing at Level 3 alongside XPeng's Level 4 robotaxi clearance in Guangzhou3. The parallel approvals mark a renewed push into autonomous driving by both companies, which already partner on EV platform and software development2.
XPeng received approval to conduct Level 4 robotaxi demonstration operations across Guangzhou, moving its autonomous ride-hailing program from internal testing into public-service trials1,4. Candice Yuan, head of XPeng's robotaxi business, said on Weibo that the company had obtained Guangzhou's qualification for intelligent connected vehicle demonstration operations, allowing citywide L4 robotaxi trials. Access will initially be gated through invitation codes, with service coverage expanding gradually. Yuan said the approval enables XPeng to advance beyond technology validation toward testing real-world operations and commercial viability.
The YOYO stack
The robotaxi operates under the YOYO brand, which XPeng unveiled on October 8. The vehicle is based on XPeng's flagship GX SUV and engineered to L4 autonomous driving standards. XPeng said YOYO is China's first mass-produced robotaxi developed through a fully in-house technology stack. It uses a vision-only approach that does not rely on LiDAR or high-definition maps, carrying four XPeng Turing AI chips with 3,000 TOPS of effective computing power and running the company's second-generation vision-language-action model, VLA 2.05.
XPeng's first production robotaxi rolled off the assembly line in May, with the first internal test ride completed in July. The fleet has since logged more than 2,000 internal test rides in Guangzhou. The company has also completed development of a cloud-based remote takeover platform.
VW partnership and sales context
The Volkswagen relationship extends beyond autonomous driving trials. The two companies co-developed the ID. Unyx 08, which has been on sale since April but is underperforming: only about 267 units sold per month through August, against an internal target of roughly 3,622 per month, according to ThinkerCar data and internal documents cited by Reuters. Volkswagen is considering selling XPeng-based ID. Unyx models in markets outside China.
Business model and expansion
XPeng plans to operate primarily as a technology and platform provider rather than directly managing large local fleets; partners would run mobility services using their own local resources and operating systems. XPeng expects its robotaxi revenue to come from hardware sales, technology services, and commission sharing.
Guangzhou is XPeng's first city for exploring commercial robotaxi deployment and serves as the base for the program's development and vehicle production. During demonstration operations, XPeng plans to collect data on vehicle utilization, dispatch efficiency, service costs, and fleet management to refine its vehicles, processes, and business model.
XPeng Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng has been in discussions with several European mobility platforms about potential robotaxi cooperation. The company plans to work with leading domestic and international ride-hailing platforms in 2027 to expand into key cities in China and overseas. XPeng previously set a target of operating passenger services without safety drivers in 2027.
ANALYSIS The platform-provider model separates XPeng from vertically integrated robotaxi operators by shifting fleet management costs to local partners, a structure that could accelerate geographic expansion but leaves XPeng dependent on third-party operational quality. The simultaneous Volkswagen L3 and XPeng L4 approvals on Chinese public roads formalize a two-tier testing regime in which the companies' shared software partnership coexists with distinct autonomy ambitions.