On April 7, GAC Aion and Didi Autonomous Driving announced that their joint venture, Guangzhou Andi Technology, had been granted a commercial license in China. The joint venture aims at the Robotaxi (unmanned taxi) field and plans to launch its first commercial Level 4 autonomous vehicle in 2025 with a total production of 100,000 units. Currently, the first model has completed product definition and is undergoing a joint design review.

Andi Technology is headquartered in Huangpu, Guangzhou, with a registered capital of 420 million yuan (~55 million USD). GAC Aion and Didi Autonomous Driving each hold 50% of the shares. The chairman of the joint venture is Zhang Xiong, deputy general manager of GAC Aion, and the general manager is Meng Xing, COO of Didi Autonomous Driving.

More specifically, the joint venture’s first autonomous vehicle is positioned as a crossover SUV, based on GAC Aion’s AEP3.0 pure electric platform and equipped with Didi Autonomous Driving’s autonomous driving software and hardware solutions.

About Didi Autonomous Driving

DiDi’s autonomous driving unit was established in 2016, committed to delivering Level 4 autonomous driving (AD) technologies. In August 2019, this unit became an independent company, DiDi Autonomous Driving, focusing on advanced AD technology research and development. So far, Didi Autonomous Driving has operated more than 200 autonomous vehicles in cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

Furthermore, after selling its smart electric vehicle assets to Xpeng in August last year, Didi’s business focus shifted towards Robotaxi and driverless trucks. In addition to cooperating with GAC Aion, Didi-back KargoBot has also obtained driverless heavy truck testing licenses in Inner Mongolia.

6 Levels of Driving Automation

According to the Society of Automotive Engineers, there are 6 levels of driving automation. In particular, Level 4 vehicles can operate in self-driving mode within a limited operation design domain.

Source: Didi, Synopsys, ITHome, GAC Aion Weibo