SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Two Chinese companies said on Saturday they will partner with local firms to launch robotaxi services in Singapore, as the city-state expands into autonomous driving.
Ride-hailing operator Grab said it would partner with China’s WeRide to begin services next year. Pony.ai and ComfortDelGro said they were teaming up for similar services and were awaiting regulatory approval.
Grab said in a statement it has been selected by local authorities to operate two autonomous shuttle service routes in the Punggol area.
It will begin taking passengers on five- and eight-seater vehicle models from WeRide from early 2026 after an initial familiarisation phase for the vehicles to study the routes in detail.
In July, WeRide was granted a permit from the Shanghai municipal government to operate autonomous robotaxi ride-hailing services.
Pony.ai said in a statement it also plans to introduce autonomous services in Punggol with fixed routes before expanding to other areas. It said services will begin in the coming months after obtaining regulatory approval.
Pony.ai now operates commercial robotaxis in four of China’s largest cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
The Toyota-backed company has been exploring the deployment of its driverless service in South Korea, Luxembourg, the Middle East and other countries after raising $260 million from its Nasdaq listing in November. It has said it plans to grow its robotaxi fleet to 1,000 by the end of this year.
The Singapore government has been exploring autonomous driving technology, with transport minister Jeffrey Siow visiting several autonomous driving companies in China in June. Singapore already has smaller zones testing out the technology.
(Reporting by Jun Yuan Yong and Xinghui Kok in Singapore, Qiaoyi Li in Beijing and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and William Mallard)
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