GUANGZHOU, China, March 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — WeRide (NASDAQ: WRD, HKEX: 0800), a global leader in autonomous driving technology, today signed an expanded strategic cooperation agreement with Geely’s Zhejiang Farizon New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group (Geely Farizon). The two companies announced plans to deliver 2,000 upgraded, purpose-built, mass-produced Robotaxi GXRs by 2026, advancing WeRide’s progress toward large-scale global Robotaxi commercialization.
As part of the signing ceremony, the companies also showcased the upgraded Robotaxi GXR. The new model is scheduled to officially roll off the production line in the third quarter of 2026. As of January 2026, WeRide’s global Robotaxi fleet had 1,023 vehicles. With the addition of 2,000 new Robotaxi GXRs, WeRide expects its global operating Robotaxi fleet to surpass 2,600 Robotaxis this year, marking steady progress toward its vision of tens of thousands of vehicles by 2030.
Equipped with WeRide’s latest GEN8 autonomous driving system, the new Robotaxi GXR delivers a substantial upgrade over the previous generation. GEN8, built around WeRide’s self-developed Sensor Suite 8.0 (SS8.0), enhances vehicle safety, consistency, and long-term operational reliability. Its thousand-line LiDAR increases point-cloud resolution by 17 times and extends detection range to 600 meters – two to three times that of mainstream industry solutions.
This ultra-long-range capability provides over 70% more reaction time for safer decision-making in high-speed scenarios, enabling the Robotaxi GXR to recognize road conditions earlier and more accurately detect small obstacles and fast-moving hazards. GEN8 also maintains stable perception in heavy rain or dense fog, ensuring safe, all-weather autonomous driving performance.
Leveraging Farizon’s advanced AI-enabled drive-by-wire chassis, along with its mature supply chain and production management system, the Robotaxi GXR delivers major gains in manufacturing efficiency, reducing vehicle assembly time from one hour to under 10 minutes. Total vehicle cost is expected to decrease by another 15%, driven by WeRide’s continued cost-innovation efforts.
“This deepened strategic collaboration between WeRide and Geely Farizon marks our shift from a product-level partnership to an integrated ecosystem, and is a significant milestone in WeRide’s global Robotaxi deployment. By combining technological leadership with high-efficiency mass production, we will accelerate commercial rollout of the Robotaxi GXR across key markets, including China, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Europe – delivering safer, more reliable, and more accessible autonomous mobility worldwide,” said Dr. Tony Han, Founder and CEO of WeRide.
“Our partnership with WeRide is not only a precise integration of technology and resources, but also a clear example of Farizon’s strategic transformation from manufacturing to providing comprehensive ‘intelligent manufacturing + services’ solutions. Moving forward, leveraging Farizon’s leading R&D capabilities, standardized intelligent manufacturing, and smart assembly capacity, we will establish a highly reliable and adaptable intelligent manufacturing foundation for the mass production and delivery of the purpose-built GXR model, providing strong support for the large-scale deployment of L4 autonomous driving technology,” said Mike Fan, CEO of Farizon New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group.
This strategic upgrade builds on a proven Robotaxi business model. In October 2024, WeRide launched the mass-produced Robotaxi GXR developed on Farizon’s SuperVAN platform. Four months later, it began fully driverless commercial operations in Beijing, followed by Guangzhou in August 2025. Today, the GXR operates fully driverless Robotaxi commercial services in Guangzhou, Beijing, and Abu Dhabi, and offers public passenger services in Dubai and Riyadh, with fully driverless operations set to launch in Dubai later this month. In Singapore, the GXR is completing trial operations ahead of public launch on April 1, 2026. With this expanding global footprint, WeRide’s Robotaxi business is now moving toward wider commercial deployment across multiple markets.
About WeRide
WeRide is a global leader and a first mover in the autonomous driving industry, as well as the first publicly traded Robotaxi company. Our autonomous vehicles have been tested or operated in over 40 cities across 11 countries. We are also the first and only technology company whose products have received autonomous driving permits in eight markets: China, the UAE, Singapore, France, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, and the US. Empowered by the smart, versatile, cost-effective, and highly adaptable WeRide One platform, WeRide provides autonomous driving products and services from L2 to L4, addressing transportation needs in the mobility, logistics, and sanitation industries. WeRide was named to Fortune’s 2025 Change the World and 2025 Future 50 lists.
About Farizon
Farizon New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group is the commercial vehicle sector of Geely Holding Group. With the support of Geely Holding Group’s Central Research Institute, Farizon New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group has founded China’s largest new energy commercial vehicle research institute. It is responsible for the R&D of a new generation of green and intelligent commercial vehicle products based on passenger vehicle technology. It has formed two core technology routes of “Methanol + Electric”. Farizon has become China’s first commercial vehicle brand to offer a full range of new energy product. Farizon is committed to becoming a comprehensive intelligent and green transportation technology service provider.
Farizon has won the annual champion of the new energy commercial vehicle industry for four consecutive years. Farizon launched its “30111” Strategy, committing to achieve 1 million annual sales by 2030 and becoming a global new energy commercial vehicle group that ranks first in domestic commercial vehicle sales and first in global new energy commercial vehicle sales.
For more information regarding Farizon New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group please refer to the official website at https://global.geelycv.com/.
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