BUSINESS

China’s Self-Driving Firms Turn to Heavy Trucks for New Growth

Published: Nov. 3, 2026 7:24 p.m. GMT+8

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Chinese autonomous driving companies Shenzhen Zhuoyu Technology Co. Ltd. and Pony AI Inc. are moving into heavy trucks, betting that driver shortages, grueling working conditions and pressure to cut fuel costs will accelerate the adoption of smart driving technology in the country’s road freight industry.

On Oct. 29, Zhuoyu introduced Panxing, an advanced driver assistance system for commercial vehicles, securing partnerships with major car manufacturers including China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co. Ltd., FAW Jiefang Group Co. Ltd., Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Co. Ltd. and Shaanxi Automobile Holding Group Co. Ltd. On the same day, Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. Ltd. announced the rollout of the T9 autonomous heavy truck it co-developed with Pony AI for trunk and port transport.

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Explore the story in 30 seconds

Chinese firms Zhuoyu and Pony AI are entering autonomous heavy trucks to address driver shortages and high fuel costs, with road freight carrying 70%+ of China's cargo.
Zhuoyu launched Panxing ADAS (Oct 29) with partners including Sinotruk and FAW; Pony AI co-developed the T9 truck with GAC.
Zhuoyu's algorithm cuts fuel use 4.5-7.5%; it reused 3B km of passenger car data, while Pony AI shares 80%+ code with robotaxis.

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Who’s Who

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What Happened When

2026-10-29：: This item is not deleted, as October 29, 2026, is earlier than 2026-11-03 19:30:37 CST.

2026-08：: This item is not deleted, as August 2026 is earlier than the cutoff.

2026：: All remaining entries: These items are not deleted, as they refer to the year 2026 without specifying a date after the cutoff. However, if "2026" is interpreted as the entire year, some events could have occurred after the cutoff. But per standard practice, without a specific date, we assume they occurred during the year, and the cutoff is within the year. Since no specific date is given, I will keep them, unless the context implies otherwise. But for accuracy, I should delete entries with dates that are explicitly after the cutoff. None of these specify a month/day after Nov 3, so they remain.

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