Pony.ai Unveils Fourth-Gen Autonomous Heavy-Duty Robotruck at IAA Transportation in Hannover

On September 14, 2026, Chinese autonomous driving company Pony.ai unveiled an L4 autonomous heavy-duty truck, the Robotruck, at the IAA Transportation trade fair in Hanover, Germany. Built on the GAC Lingcheng T9 battery-electric heavy-duty truck platform, this vehicle is part of Pony.ai’s fourth-generation autonomous truck family and is scheduled for mass production within 2026, targeting applications in long-haul logistics, dedicated-line logistics, and port transportation. The new truck integrates Pony.ai’s fourth-generation L4 autonomous truck system and GAC Lingcheng’s fully redundant drive-by-wire chassis. Its six core systems—steering, braking, communication, power supply, computing, and sensors—are all designed with full redundancy. The vehicle is equipped with a full automotive-grade autonomous driving suite, including nine LiDAR units, three millimeter-wave radars, 13 cameras, and a domain controller identical to that used in Pony.ai’s seventh-generation Robotaxi. The bill-of-materials (BOM) cost of the autonomous driving suite has been reduced by 70% compared to the previous generation, and the per-ton-kilometer transportation cost is expected to drop by 30%. Pony.ai currently operates hundreds of L4 trucks across multiple routes in China, with some vehicles running entirely without safety drivers and others accompanied by human safety operators. He Xing, Vice President of Pony.ai, stated that the company has already engaged with multiple ports and governments of several European countries regarding testing arrangements. Pony.ai is actively negotiating with governments and potential customers across Europe to conduct on-road tests. At the IAA Transportation show, Pony.ai unveiled for the first time its global strategic roadmap for the Robotruck, which aims to enter the European and Middle Eastern markets within the next two years. In addition, Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturers—including BYD, Geely’s Farizon New Energy Commercial Vehicle, Sany, Sinotruk, WeDo Tech, and SpeedBot—are already selling or preparing to launch battery-electric trucks in Europe. Pony.ai is currently conducting autonomous ride-hailing tests in several European cities, including Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.