200 Chinese Robotaxis to Hit South Korean Roads Starting in Seoul

Robotaxis from Chinese autonomous driving firm Pony.ai will soon hit the roads in South Korea in earnest.

The plan is to launch commercial services in Seoul around 2028 and then expand the operation areas to various cities across the country.

FutureLink announced on August 28 that it signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Pony.ai at Conrad Seoul in Yeouido, Seoul.

The signing ceremony was attended by James Peng, co-founder and CEO of Pony.ai; Nam Kyung-pil, chairman of FutureLink and Ponylink; and Cha Doo-won, CEO of FutureLink.

The core of this agreement is to introduce Pony.ai's 7th-generation robotaxis to South Korea and operate them as a commercial service.

The two companies plan to transition the technological verification conducted in Seoul's Gangnam autonomous driving pilot operation district into actual service operations.

They also plan to establish a joint venture in the future.

FutureLink has been conducting day and night demonstrations in the Gangnam area since last year using vehicles equipped with Pony.ai's autonomous driving development kits.

The vision is to import 7th-generation autonomous vehicles that have received domestic certification and operate a robotaxi service that citizens can actually use.

Founded in 2016, Pony.ai went public on the US Nasdaq in 2024 and currently operates fully driverless commercial services without safety monitors in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, China.

FutureLink, an autonomous driving business subsidiary of the KOSDAQ-listed company Ponylink, has localized Pony.ai's technology in South Korea by driving about 80,000 kilometers accident-free in Gangnam using vehicles modified from Kona Electrics.

FutureLink will be responsible for acquiring domestic certifications, market entry, and service operations, while Pony.ai will provide autonomous driving technology and support domestic operations.

Once certification is completed, the plan is to expand the service starting from Seoul to major cities.

Initially, 200 vehicles will be deployed.

The vehicles are models produced by China's BAIC.

"Vehicle certification is the first step toward commercialization," Pony.ai CEO James Peng said. "After receiving certification, we plan to deploy fully driverless robotaxis on South Korean roads."

Peng further emphasized, "Pony.ai's ultimate goal is to make autonomous mobility available anywhere."

FutureLink and Pony.ai expect to obtain South Korean government certification by 2028 and operate fully driverless autonomous vehicles on South Korean roads.

FutureLink CEO Cha Doo-won explained, "The South Korean government is showing great interest in the autonomous driving industry, to the extent that it announced a plan to deploy 3,000 autonomous vehicles."

He added, "FutureLink's ultimate goal is to localize Pony.ai's technology to fit the South Korean environment while complying with South Korea's regulations and related rules, and to provide high-quality autonomous driving services in the country."

Peng stated that Pony.ai plans to deploy more than 4,000 autonomous vehicles centered around Europe and the Middle East.

He also explained that Pony.ai has competitiveness in safety, vehicle integration, cost management, and operational efficiency compared to competitors such as US-based Tesla.

In particular, he emphasized that the company has accumulated more than 100 million kilometers of driving experience on general roads.

Regarding concerns over the entry of Chinese autonomous driving companies into South Korea, FutureLink emphasized the need to strengthen industrial competitiveness through technological cooperation.

Chairman Nam Kyung-pil said, "If we introduce Pony.ai's advanced technology to South Korea and find ways to expand the scope of localization together, it will help not only FutureLink but also the development of South Korea's entire autonomous driving industry."

He drew a line regarding the possibility of transferring data overseas.

Yoon Seung-hyun, a senior executive at FutureLink, stated, "Data collected domestically will not be transferred abroad."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.