Through the strategic positions of these two companies, this capital cooperation represents another milestone in the global expansion of autonomous driving technology and deep integration with regional ecosystems: on one side is a "tech pioneer" holding autonomous driving licenses in 6 countries and covering 30 cities across 10 nations, and on the other side is the "Southeast Asian lifestyle gateway" penetrating 800 cities across 8 countries. When the Robotaxi "technology leader" meets the "Southeast Asian super gateway," their collision will accelerate the large-scale deployment of Robotaxi in Southeast Asia, potentially signaling that WeRide Inc.'s autonomous driving commercial "cross-regional replication" model is emerging. This mirrors WeRide Inc.'s previous multiple collaborations with Uber in the Middle East and other regions. WeRide Inc.'s global "network of partners" is rapidly expanding.

**Southeast Asia Lacks Drivers? WeRide Partners with Super Gateway to "Fill the Gap"**

As widely known, WeRide Inc. is currently one of the hottest players in the global autonomous driving field, with frequent expansion moves this year: first partnering with beti, Renault Group, and Macif to launch Europe's first L4-level autonomous driving minibus fully unmanned commercial operation route in Drôme, France; then announcing deepened strategic cooperation with Uber again, planning to deploy Robotaxi services in 15 additional international cities over the next five years, and now beginning to invest heavily in the Southeast Asian market.

As the veritable "world's first Robotaxi stock," WeRide Inc. has currently deployed autonomous driving R&D, testing, and operation businesses across 10 countries and 30 cities globally, building five major product matrices: Robotaxi, Robovan, Robosweeper, Robobus, and combined driver assistance. It is currently the only global technology company simultaneously holding autonomous driving licenses in 6 countries: China, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Singapore, France, and the United States.

At the technical level, relying on its self-developed WeRide One universal technology platform, WeRide Inc. has achieved full-stack coverage from L2 to L4 autonomous driving technology, capable of meeting complex traffic demands on open roads while maintaining high adaptability. It previously made Fortune's 2023 "Companies That Change the World" top ten and 2024 "Global Future 50" lists, with its technological leadership receiving international authoritative recognition.

According to this cooperation agreement, the investment directly targets core objectives: accelerating the large-scale deployment of Robotaxi and various autonomous driving vehicles in Southeast Asia. Both parties will integrate WeRide Inc.'s autonomous driving technology into Grab Holdings' mature operation network, jointly improving the quality and safety of regional transportation services.

Data shows that Grab Holdings is Southeast Asia's leading super app platform, with business coverage spanning delivery, transportation, digital finance, and other diverse fields. Its service network deeply covers over 800 cities across eight Southeast Asian countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

This strategic cooperation between WeRide Inc. and Grab Holdings officially kicks off its entry into the Southeast Asian market. Grab Holdings co-founder and Group CEO Anthony Tan stated: "We want every Southeast Asian resident to have access to reliable transportation services when needed. However, labor shortages remain a major challenge. We believe autonomous vehicles can complement our driver network, deployed in areas with more severe driver shortages. We look forward to working with WeRide Inc. to conduct extensive testing of WeRide Inc.'s vehicles in Southeast Asia's diverse environments."

Grab Holdings' super app attributes (integrating payment, food delivery, social functions, etc.) provide "scenario value-added" possibilities for WeRide Inc.'s Robotaxi. In the future, users can summon Robotaxi through Grab Holdings with one click and complete payment, with travel data linking with food delivery, express delivery, and other businesses (such as recommending nearby restaurants based on travel routes). This approach essentially shares similarities with WeRide Inc. or Pony.ai's cooperation with global ride-hailing giant Uber, both using super apps to accelerate empowering tech pioneers' commercial deployment.

WeRide Inc. founder and CEO Tony Han stated: "WeRide Inc.'s development vision in the Southeast Asian market is to gradually deploy thousands of Robotaxis in combination with local regulations and social acceptance. Our latest partner and investor Grab Holdings is a household name in Southeast Asia, with incomparable regional experience and scale advantages in ride-hailing and digital services. We will leverage WeRide Inc.'s advanced autonomous driving technology and operational experience with Grab Holdings' platform advantages to provide safe and efficient Robotaxi services, continuously explore new markets, and maintain our first-mover advantage in creating future transportation methods."

This "Mobility as a Service" ecosystem integration represents an important trend in global autonomous driving commercialization; after all, in the long cycle, autonomous driving companies with ecosystem synergy capabilities have significantly higher user stickiness and single-customer revenue than single transportation service providers.

**Global Expansion: WeRide Robotaxi "Blooms Everywhere"**

In fact, WeRide Inc.'s Q2 2025 financial report disclosed in late July had already announced the start of a "global commercialization general offensive," with the Grab Holdings cooperation further confirming its general offensive strategic arrangement through "regional breakthrough battles."

The financial report shows WeRide Inc.'s Q2 revenue reached 127 million yuan (approximately $17.8 million), up 60.8% year-over-year; Robotaxi business revenue was 45.9 million yuan, surging 836.7% year-over-year, accounting for 36.1% of quarterly total revenue, setting a new high for single-quarter Robotaxi revenue since the company's founding.

Behind this achievement is the implementation of a "globalization + scale" dual-wheel strategy: In overseas markets, the Middle East became the "first testing ground." WeRide Inc.'s Abu Dhabi Robotaxi fleet in cooperation with Uber has grown threefold since December 2024, with new operating areas including Al Reem Island and Al Maryah Island, covering nearly half of Abu Dhabi's core urban areas, with order volume expected to double.

Currently, this fleet has become the largest Robotaxi fleet in the Middle East, using WeRide Inc.'s new generation GXR model—a mass-production Robotaxi model designed for large-scale commercial deployment, accommodating up to five passengers. The fleet has launched fully unmanned Robotaxi road testing in the Middle East, planning to expand to new areas like Khalifa City and Masdar City within 2025; Dubai and Saudi Arabia deployments are advancing simultaneously—partnering with Uber and Dubai Traffic Authority to deploy commercial Robotaxi transportation services (expected trial operation this year, fully unmanned commercial operation in Q1 2026), obtaining Saudi Riyadh autonomous driving license and launching Saudi's first Robotaxi trial operation service.

The domestic market is also accelerating simultaneously, having moved from "policy pilot" to "quasi-commercial operation" stage. In July, WeRide Inc. partnered with Chery and Jinjiang Taxi to obtain approval for unmanned public road passenger demonstration applications in Pudong New District, providing L4-level shuttle services for the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference; first-tier cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou are transitioning Robotaxi from "test vehicles" to "quasi-commercial vehicles" due to policy relaxation (such as eased L4-level operation restrictions).

The prototype of a globalized "regional network" has emerged. Beyond Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the Middle East, WeRide Inc. has extended autonomous driving technology to multiple categories including Robotaxi, Robobus (autonomous minibus), and Robosweeper (L4-level sanitation vehicles), covering 30 cities across 10 countries, with front-loaded mass production products deployed in France, Spain, Singapore, and other countries.

This time, WeRide Inc.'s equity-based deepened cooperation with Southeast Asian super app platform Grab Holdings signals another move in its global commercial operation landscape. This "multi-point blooming" layout essentially represents WeRide Inc.'s deep bet on "scale effects."

According to relevant research reports, WeRide Inc.'s WeRide One platform supports L2-L4 technology reuse, with 90% of Robotaxi vehicle components shareable, and next-generation product costs expected to decrease 20%-30%; its Abu Dhabi fleet's "per-kilometer cost" has continuously decreased with scale expansion, showing improved single-vehicle economic signals.

Financial data shows that despite Q2 net loss of 406 million yuan due to high R&D and management costs, gross margin reached 48.6%, with sufficient cash reserves (4.088 billion yuan cash + 1.735 billion yuan time deposits), providing ample ammunition for future expansion.

Perhaps based on these commercialization positive developments, WeRide Inc. management expressed confidence in the future, stating: "With support from global strategic partners, we are approaching a critical inflection point—efficiently operating a Robotaxi fleet with a sustainable single-vehicle economic model is becoming reality."

**WeRide × Uber/Grab: Technology + Super App = 1+1>2**

Goldman Sachs reports indicate the global Robotaxi market is expected to reach $40-45.7 billion by 2030; Bank of America predicts autonomous vehicle total scale will reach $1.2 trillion by 2040. In this explosive growth trillion-dollar market competition, WeRide Inc., which has successively partnered with global transportation service giant Uber and Southeast Asian super app platform Grab Holdings and other companies with massive local gateway resources, is exploring a "technology export + localized operation" cross-regional replication path, which has profound significance for the global autonomous driving industry.

Currently, the global Robotaxi track has formed three major camps: "technology faction" (such as Waymo, WeRide Inc.), "automaker faction" (such as Tesla, GM Cruise), and "super app faction" (such as Grab Holdings, Uber). However, as commercialization advances, "going it alone" models gradually decline—Waymo has partnered with Walmart to expand logistics scenarios, Cruise was acquired by GM to integrate manufacturing resources, while WeRide's leading alliance approach with Uber and WeRide's "technology + super app" alliance with Grab Holdings essentially stack their respective core barriers in technology, users, and compliance dimensions, forming "1+1>2" synergy effects.

However, it must be warned that compared to the Middle East region with low automotive transportation costs and higher per capita area and economic levels, most Southeast Asian regions have significantly weaker transportation consumption capacity and complex road conditions, with considerable short-term commercialization operational challenges expected to be numerous and difficult.