Sany Heavy Truck, a subsidiary of Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer Sany Heavy Industry, is forming a strategic joint venture with Pony.ai.
The plan is to combine Pony.ai's virtual driver with Sany's technical prowess in building heavy-duty trucks to build automotive-grade self-driving trucks, which means the vehicles can drive themselves in certain conditions without needing a human to intervene. Electric and diesel-powered trucks will be part of the JV's portfolio.
The chairman of Sany Heavy Truck said that the partnership between SANY and Pony.ai was the ultimate collaboration between truck body and truck brain.
The JV, which does not yet have a brand name, will begin small-scale deliveries of the robotrucks this year and next. Around 10,000 trucks are expected to be produced by the company in a few years.
The first prototype of the JV was built on Sany's new EV truck platform. The prototype was powered by Pony's controller, which is built on the Drive Orin self- driving toolkit.
Pony.ai, which is technically based in San Francisco, is ramping up its operations in China. The startup lost its permit to deploy cars with a driver behind the wheel in California. Pony was granted a license to test its vehicles in California. Pony was granted a taxi license in Guangzhou and got a permit to provide ride-sharing in Beijing.
Pony.ai combined its truck and passenger car R&D teams in November of last year, causing at least two executives from the trucking team to leave in protest. The startup's U.S.-based trucking operations had been suspended, but tests continued in China, according to sources.
Pony formed another joint venture with Sinotrans, one of China's leading logistics and freight companies, to build a smart logistics network. The JV started operations in April.
Pony said in a statement Thursday that it wants to create partnerships with top trucking andlogistics companies to create a framework for future development, so we might expect to see more JVs in the future.
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