The lidar, which was once "rejected" by Musk, has been intensively used on vehicles in the past two years, and the industrialization process has been accelerated.

Recently, Yole Intelligence, a market research institution under Yole Group, released the "2024 Global Car-mounted Lidar Market Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"). According to the Report, the global car-mounted lidar market reached USD 538 million in 2023, a year-on-year growth of 79%. Among them, the performance of the passenger vehicle lidar (ADAS) market is particularly prominent, with a growth rate of up to 145% from 2022 to 2023.

The surge in the size of the passenger vehicle lidar market is closely related to the increasing number of domestic and foreign car companies joining the lidar trend. According to Yole Intelligence, the installation volume of passenger vehicle lidar in 2023 was 762,000 units, more than three times that of 2022.

In this competition among automakers in the lidar market, Hesai (HSAI.US), as a leader in the global car-mounted lidar field, is far ahead in several key industry indicators. According to the Report, Hesai won four global firsts in the car-mounted lidar market, including the first global car-mounted lidar market share, the first global ADAS market share and installed capacity, and the first global autonomous driving lidar market share. At the same time, Hesai has also been the only Chinese company to win the honor of "multiple global firsts" in this field for three consecutive years.

According to the Report, driven by the strong demand in the ADAS and L4 autonomous driving market, Hesai continued to rank first in the global car-mounted lidar total revenue list with a market share as high as 37%.

Furthermore, in the passenger vehicle lidar market, relying on multiple innovative mass-produced target projects and years of deep accumulation of strong technical advantages, Hesai won the first place in both market share and installed capacity in 2023. According to statistics, in the subdivision market, Hesai's market share in 2023 reached 26%, steadily increasing from 23% in the same period last year, indicating that Hesai's products are increasingly favored and trusted by host factory customers.

In Hesai's traditional advantage field of L4 autonomous driving lidar market, Hesai continues to dominate with a market share of 74%. It is understood that Hesai maintains close cooperation with almost all leading players in the field of autonomous driving at home and abroad. Nine of the top ten L4 autonomous driving companies in the world use Hesai's lidar, which highlights the market advantage.

After a comprehensive view of the Report, Hesai, with multiple championship honors, is undoubtedly the most worth watching company in the car-mounted lidar market. At the same time, looking at the industry outlook and Hesai's own situation, Hesai's commercial potential may not have been fully released yet, and the company's growth prospects are also worth optimistic expectations from the market.

First of all, in terms of the industry, in May of this year, the sales volume of new energy passenger vehicles over RMB 150,000 reached about 509,000 units, and the penetration rate of lidar reached 20.5%, achieving a "crossover." As the penetration rate quickly increases, lidar is expected to usher in greater development opportunities.

Looking back at the company itself, in the global mass production market, Hesai has been selected for nearly 70 models of 18 host factories, including a globally mass-produced model of a top international car brand, which provides important support for the company's subsequent performance release. From a financial perspective, unlike many peers who burn money for market share, Hesai is the only lidar company with positive cash flow in 2023, and the company is expected to achieve profitability in Q4 of this year. The steady "positive blood-making ability" also means that the company may take the lead in breaking through in the fiercely competitive lidar market and achieve high-quality development in the true sense.