1. [para. 1][para. 2] Hesai Group’s CFO Andrew Fan said the Chinese lidar maker is betting that overseas automakers will speed up adoption of the laser-sensing technology, creating a major growth opportunity for Chinese suppliers that have built manufacturing and cost advantages at home. He noted that China accounts for the vast majority of automotive lidar installations worldwide, while adoption in overseas passenger vehicles remains at an early stage.
2. [para. 3][para. 4] In China, nearly 2.76 million primary lidar sensors were installed in passenger vehicles in 2025, with Hesai holding about 41% of the market. Globally, penetration is much lower — around 3% of passenger vehicles in 2025, according to Fan’s estimate, though industry estimates vary by vehicle and sensor category.
3. [para. 5][para. 6] The overseas passenger-vehicle lidar market has been relatively small, Fan said. It began developing around the same time as China’s, roughly in 2019 or 2020, but slower autonomous-driving development among overseas automakers has kept lidar adoption from reaching significant scale outside China. Falling prices have helped accelerate adoption in China: Hesai’s blended average selling price has dropped from roughly 4,000 to 5,000 yuan three years ago to just above 1,000 yuan today.
4. [para. 7][para. 8][para. 9] Despite the price decline, manufacturing costs have fallen at a broadly similar pace, allowing Hesai to keep overall gross margins relatively stable. Cheaper lidar has prompted automakers to install the sensors in lower-priced mass-market vehicles; some Chinese cars priced at just 60,000 to 80,000 yuan already include lidar. As Fan put it, “Lidar has little to do with the price of a car. It has more to do with its level of autonomous driving.”
5. [para. 10][para. 11] Lidar uses laser pulses to measure distances and create three-dimensional maps of the environment, helping vehicles with assisted or autonomous driving navigate and detect obstacles. Hesai shipped more than 1.6 million lidar units in 2025, up nearly 223% from a year earlier. Its Chinese auto customers include BYD, Great Wall Motor, Li Auto, Xiaomi and BAIC Motor.
6. [para. 12] Beyond passenger cars, Hesai’s lidar is used in robotaxis operated by Pony.ai and WeRide, humanoid and quadruped robots, and robotic lawn mowers. In October, the company launched Kosmo One, an 8K spatial camera that generates 3D data for robot training and AI development.
7. [para. 13][para. 14][para. 15][para. 16] Hesai’s overseas business is growing. Markets outside mainland China accounted for 25.7% of revenue in the first half of 2026, up from 18.9% a year earlier. North American revenue nearly doubled year-on-year to 282.4 million yuan, or 18.3% of total sales; European revenue rose 4.3% to 62.2 million yuan, or 4% of the total. These figures include automotive, robotics and other applications.
8. [para. 17][para. 18][para. 19][para. 20] Fan said growth does not depend only on Chinese automakers expanding globally; foreign automakers still account for a substantial share of global vehicle sales, offering another customer base. He argued that Chinese lidar manufacturers’ global expansion is inevitable, adding that he sees no overseas lidar maker capable of changing that trajectory. In May, Hesai was selected as a lidar supplier for Mercedes-Benz models supporting Level 3 autonomous driving in Europe and China, supported by its new Galileo plant in Thailand, which is expected to begin operations next year.
9. [para. 21] Hesai expects to deliver around 3 million lidar units in 2026, roughly double last year’s volume, and is expanding annual production capacity to more than 4 million units by year-end.
10. [para. 22][para. 23][para. 24] Overseas ambitions face geopolitical risks. Hesai was placed on a U.S. Defense Department list of companies allegedly linked to China’s military in 2024 and has challenged the designation in court. In August, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled the Pentagon violated Hesai’s due process rights by failing to give adequate notice and an opportunity to respond, and ordered further proceedings without removing the company from the list. The Section 1260H designation does not legally bar civilian U.S. companies from buying Hesai’s lidar, and the U.S. still accounts for a double-digit share of its revenue.
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