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Investing.com -- Morgan Stanley analysts expect autonomous ride-hailing to become a significant part of China’s transport landscape, projecting that “L4+ robotaxis [will] account for 8% of China’s total taxi/ride-sharing fleet size by 2030.”
In a note, Morgan Stanley said global competition is likely to accelerate the trend. “In our view, global competition will serve as a powerful catalyst to shift China’s robotaxi rollout into high gear,” the analysts wrote.
The report highlighted recent partnerships as evidence of the sector’s growing momentum.
WeRide, for instance, announced on Sept. 11 that it had expanded its robobus business into Leuven, Belgium, following earlier deployments in France, Switzerland and Spain.
Morgan Stanley said the move “would be crucial to acquiring consumer mind share and accelerating regulatory approvals for robotaxi operations in the region ultimately.”
Other Chinese autonomous driving firms are also broadening their reach. Pony.ai has begun Level 4 robotaxi testing in Doha with local operator Mowasalat, while Momenta is working with Uber to roll out robotaxis in Munich in 2026.
Ant-Group-backed Hello, meanwhile, plans to launch its HR1 robotaxi in 2026, targeting a fleet of 50,000 vehicles across more than 10 cities by 2027 in partnership with Horizon Robotics.
The analysts said strategic collaborations would be essential for scaling operations. “We expect growing strategic partnerships to form between Chinese L4 players (providing vehicle and software) and global fleet operators (providing capital and customer base),” Morgan Stanley noted.
“To compete with Chinese players, you need to co-work with Chinese suppliers,” the report added, underlining the sector’s increasingly international character.