Xpeng has established a new robotaxi business unit, marking a strategic step to accelerate its development and commercialization of autonomous driving technology.
The newly created division will operate as a tier-one organization within the company, overseeing product definition, project integration, research and development testing, and daily operations, according to a person familiar with the matter. The unit is expected to collaborate across Xpeng’s existing business lines, leveraging shared resources to advance its robotaxi program.
He Xiaopeng said during the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call that Xpeng plans to begin passenger-carrying demonstration operations for its robotaxi service in the second half of this year. The initiative is intended to validate the technology, user experience, and business model.
The company aims to transition to fully driverless operations without safety operators as early as next year, reflecting its broader ambition to move from Level 2 (L2) to Level 4 (L4) autonomous driving capabilities.
Over the past year, Xpeng has restructured its autonomous driving development framework, including adjustments to its technology architecture, research approach, and organizational setup. The company has adopted a system driven primarily by artificial intelligence and software, and earlier this year merged its autonomous driving and smart cockpit teams into a unified general intelligence center.
He has previously indicated that autonomous driving could reach a broader inflection point within one to three years, with Xpeng aiming to integrate L2 to L4 capabilities through its second-generation Vision-Language-Action (VLA 2.0) model.
The company has already begun normalized L4 road testing for the Xpeng GX, a six-seater sport utility vehicle equipped with the VLA 2.0 system. The model is expected to launch in the second quarter of this year, expanding Xpeng’s product portfolio.