Nio won't be taking jobs from ride-hailing drivers, it's not inspiring, William Li said.
Nio (NYSE: NIO) ruled out entering the robotaxi space at a time when electric vehicle (EV) makers including Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) are planning to do so.
Robotaxi is not an exciting business model, and Nio is determined not to enter the space, said William Li, the company's founder, chairman and CEO.
Li made the comments in an interview with local media after today's Nio IN 2024 event in Shanghai, where he argued that smart driving technology should be used to reduce accidents and freeing up driver's energy.
“Robotaxi's technology will definitely mature ... but will it really necessarily be a sustainable business? No, you're overthinking it,” Li said.
There's a finite number of cabs that can be accommodated for a city, whether it's being driven by human drivers or not, Li said.
“This means robotaxi will never going to be a business that became borderless like software or cloud services. Wake up!” Li said.
How to make cars safer through technology is something worth Nio's full attention, he said.
“Why would I want to take business from ride hailing drivers, I don't think it's inspiring,” Li said.
EV makers, including Tesla and Xpeng, and self-driving technology providers, including Baidu, are pushing ahead with research and development for robotaxis.
Tesla had planned to unveil its robotaxi on August 8, but that was pushed back to October 10.
Xpeng had said in November 2021 that it would explore the robotaxi business in the second half of 2022.
He Xiaopeng, Xpeng's chairman and CEO, said in a Weibo post on July 25 that his company would launch a very competitive robotaxi in 2026 at a set pace.
Mr. He hinted that Xpeng will only offer robotaxi vehicles, but operations will be carried out by partners.
Chinese tech giant Baidu's robotaxi platform Apollo Go is already offering robotaxi services in about a dozen Chinese cities. Earlier this month, complaints from some ride-hailing drivers in Wuhan, Hubei province, that the service was stealing business from them sparked widespread concern.
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