China's GAC Group this week signed an agreement with local technology company DiDi Chuxing to jointly develop and produce a purpose-built autonomous vehicle model, as the automaker sets its sights on the emerging robotaxi market.
GAC Group Aion subsidiary will work together with Didi Autonomous Driving to bring the vehicle to mass production. Didi is one of several Chinese technology companies, including Baidu, Alibaba, Pony.ai and WeRide, looking to establish autonomous taxi services in China and elsewhere. Local automakers such as FAW Group, SAIC Motor, Changan and Dongfeng Motor are supporting these efforts.
Earlier this month Baidu launched the world's first fee-paying driverless taxi service in Beijing which it plans to scale up in the next two years.