Is the money-burning war about to be decided? Smart-driving “two titans” face off in their annual reports: Waymo is spending 1.1 billion more than Xiaoma—whose “money prospects” are more worrying?

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Writer | “BUG” Column Zhou Wenmeng

Two domestic autonomous driving giants have both released their first annual reports after listing in Hong Kong stocks.

Xiaoma Zhi Xing released an unaudited financial report for 2025, with total revenue of 629 million yuan, a 20% year-over-year increase. YuanZhi Xing’s full-year revenue reached 690 million yuan, a 90% increase.

As the two leading domestic Robotaxi companies, Xiaoma Zhi Xing and YuanZhi Xing have long been compared publicly. According to the “BUG” column’s statistics, since disclosing their 2022 financial data, YuanZhi Xing’s revenue in 2022 and 2025 has outperformed Xiaoma Zhi Xing, but in 2023 and 2024, its revenue growth slowed and was surpassed by Xiaoma Zhi Xing, with net profit also remaining lower over the long term.

**　　Financial PK: YuanZhi Xing’s Advantage Thanks to 1.1 Billion Yuan**

For a long time, YuanZhi Xing’s diversified “egg-laying” model—covering Robotaxi, minibus, freight, sanitation, and other autonomous driving businesses—has been contrasted with Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s focused “deep drilling” development model centered on Robotaxi and Robotruck (autonomous freight trucks). These are seen as the two main development paths in autonomous driving.

Now, with the release of their first annual reports after listing, the financial prospects of these two routes have also been made public.

According to the “BUG” column’s findings, from 2022 to now, YuanZhi Xing’s revenue in 2022 and 2025 has exceeded Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s, but its revenue growth in 2023 and 2024 has slowed, allowing Xiaoma Zhi Xing to overtake.

From the trend, Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s “deep drilling” focus on Robotaxi and Robotruck has shown more stable performance with less volatility compared to YuanZhi Xing.

Behind the revenue differences, the net profit performance of both companies better reflects their operational quality and development characteristics. From 2022 to 2025, both Xiaoma Zhi Xing and YuanZhi Xing have been in loss. Comparatively, YuanZhi Xing’s losses have been consistently higher than Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s.

Especially in 2025, Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s losses narrowed sharply by 72.53%, from a loss of 1.96B yuan the previous year to 539 million yuan, a significant improvement. In contrast, YuanZhi Xing’s loss in 2025 was 1.65B yuan, a reduction of about 34.29% from the previous year, but it still lost over 1.1 billion yuan more than Xiaoma Zhi Xing in just one year, showing weaker improvement.

Cumulatively, from 2022 to 2025, Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s total losses amount to approximately 4.46B yuan, while YuanZhi Xing’s total losses reach about 7.42B yuan, with YuanZhi Xing losing 2.96B yuan more than Xiaoma Zhi Xing.

In terms of financial security, the financial reports show that by 2025, Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s cash and short-term investments totaled 10.59B yuan. In comparison, YuanZhi Xing’s cash and related reserves are 7.1 billion yuan, indicating less available funds and greater sustainability challenges.

The straightforward financial data objectively reflect the styles and development trends of the two companies: Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s revenue growth is steadier, with better loss control and more sufficient cash reserves for sustainability; YuanZhi Xing’s revenue fluctuates more, with weaker loss control and a more aggressive style.

**　　Commercialization PK: Robotaxi Booming, but Freight Business Weak**

On the business level, YuanZhi Xing adopts a “full-scenario coverage” diversified strategy, building a product matrix of five major offerings: Robotaxi, Robobus, Robovan (freight), Robosweeper, and technical services. While advancing full autonomous driving technology, it also rapidly deploys in closed, simple scenarios like parks and airports.

Financial reports show that in 2025, YuanZhi Xing’s Robotaxi revenue for the full year was 150 million yuan, a 209.6% increase. Additionally, sales from autonomous minibus, autonomous sanitation vehicles, autonomous freight trucks, and technical services generated 231 million yuan, 96 million yuan, 10 million yuan, and 198 million yuan respectively, with year-over-year growth of 190.47%, 73.68%, -21.65%, and 20.40%.

In comparison, in 2025, Xiaoma Zhi Xing mainly relied on the dual-drive of “Robotaxi + Robotruck,” while also providing technical solutions to automakers. During the period, Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s Robotaxi revenue reached 116 million yuan, a 129% increase; Robotruck revenue was 284 million yuan, a slight increase of 0.6%; and technology licensing revenue was 229 million yuan, up 19.71% from the previous year.

Looking solely at revenue performance, YuanZhi Xing achieved a larger growth breakthrough than Xiaoma Zhi Xing in 2025. However, in terms of fleet size for Robotaxi, Robotruck, and licensing revenue, YuanZhi Xing still lags behind Xiaoma Zhi Xing to varying degrees.

According to Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s latest announcement, from 2024 when the company had only over 250 Robotaxis, the fleet has now grown to over 1,400, expanding operations in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. The seventh-generation Robotaxi has achieved break-even in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Meanwhile, YuanZhi Xing’s autonomous vehicles have been deployed in 12 countries and over 40 cities worldwide, covering the broadest global scope, but its Robotaxi fleet is only 1,125 vehicles—275 fewer than Xiaoma Zhi Xing.

In the Robotruck segment, although Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s revenue growth slowed in 2025, it still reached 284 million yuan, significantly higher than YuanZhi Xing’s 10 million yuan (which declined 21.65% year-over-year). In licensing fees, Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s overall revenue remains higher, though both companies saw similar growth rates.

Overall, with its diversified business structure, YuanZhi Xing managed to quickly boost performance in 2025 through autonomous minibus, sanitation, and other businesses, despite a decline in autonomous freight. Xiaoma Zhi Xing, with a simpler business model, saw its overall growth slow as its autonomous truck business growth decelerated.

Conclusion: “Profitability” Turning Point Approaching—Who Will Come Out on Top?

According to Ark Invest’s “Big Ideas 2025” report, by 2030, the Robotaxi market could reach a staggering $34 trillion. Of this, autonomous electric vehicle manufacturers will contribute $200 billion, fleet owners $1 trillion, and autonomous driving platform providers a jaw-dropping $33.6 trillion, accounting for 98.8%.

Behind such huge market expectations, the trend of approaching “scaling inflection point” in autonomous driving fuels market confidence. In discussions with the “BUG” column, a senior executive in autonomous driving, Li Mou (pseudonym), stated: “By analyzing millions or tens of millions of kilometers of testing data, we can clearly conclude that autonomous driving is far safer than human drivers, and the cost per kilometer has already approached that of human drivers.”

“Due to aging populations and declining birth rates among young people, human driver costs will continue to rise, but as scale increases, autonomous driving costs will decrease. These two lines are moving in opposite directions—one upward, one downward. The cost per kilometer has now reached a convergence point, and will only get lower in the future,” Li Mou said.

Under this trend, since 2025, players like Tesla and Hello Chuxing have entered rapidly, while experienced Robotaxi companies like Luobo Kuaipao, Waymo, and Cruise are competing fiercely on the international stage. As industry competition intensifies, YuanZhi Xing’s diversified approach and Xiaoma Zhi Xing’s focus on Robotaxi and Robotruck will likely face even fiercer rivalry.

According to Xiaoma Zhi Xing, the fleet size of Robotaxi is expected to expand to 3,000 vehicles by 2026, and reach 100k by 2030, with an annual compound growth rate exceeding 200%. In comparison, YuanZhi Xing’s global deployment of Robotaxi in 2026 is projected at 2,600 vehicles, reaching tens of thousands by 2030. It appears Xiaoma Zhi Xing is more confident about its future Robotaxi development, while YuanZhi Xing’s momentum seems weaker.

Of course, YuanZhi Xing may also have smaller goals in fields like autonomous minibus and sanitation vehicles that Xiaoma Zhi Xing has yet to pursue.