Zhongtong Finance APP learned that Ping An Securities issued a research report stating that "Luobo Kuaipao" has seen a surge in orders in Wuhan, indicating that the commercialization process of high-level autonomous driving will accelerate. From the perspective of policy, on the one hand, the government is promoting the construction of "vehicle-road-cloud integration" to help improve relevant infrastructure, and on the other hand, the regulatory blank of high-level autonomous driving is gradually being filled. From a technical perspective, the cost of Lidar is decreasing, and the birth of lightweight maps has made "fusion perception + lightweight map" a feasible transitional solution before the popularization of "pure vision + end-to-end". From a market perspective, Luobo Kuaipao's goal of entering a full-profit period in 2025 releases a bullish signal. As an important scene of high-level autonomous driving, Robotaxi will form a commercial closed loop first, and the commercialization process of China's high-level autonomous driving is expected to accelerate.

The main points of Ping An Securities are as follows:

Status: The commercialization process of high-level autonomous driving is accelerating with the constant development of policies and technology.

"Luobo Kuaipao" has once again pushed the attention of high-level autonomous driving to a climax. China's commercialization process of high-level autonomous driving represented by the Robotaxi scene is expected to accelerate. The "vehicle-road-cloud integrated" technical route has gradually become a consensus for the development of the autonomous driving industry. At present, China's construction of "vehicle-road-cloud integration" is still in its early stages. Recently, vehicle-road-cloud-related policies have been successively introduced, project bidding and approval in various places have accelerated in pace, and this will promote the improvement of relevant infrastructure, provide support for the introduction and large-scale application of high-level autonomous driving, and may bring huge value-added increments. In the field of autonomous driving in China, government regulation and technological development are advancing in a "spiral" manner. The regulatory blank of high-level autonomous driving in China is gradually being filled, which will help accelerate the maturity of related technologies and business models.

Technology: Lightweight, high-precision maps achieve the transition, and pure vision + end-to-end may be the ultimate solution.

Autonomous driving algorithm systems are divided into end-to-end autonomous driving and modular autonomous driving. Previously, the landing of urban NOA by domestic host plants was mainly based on the module scheme of high-precision maps + single-vehicle perception, but in the implementation process, the high cost of high-precision maps and policy constraints gradually emerged. The pure vision + end-to-end solution led by Tesla is expected to become a breakthrough point for achieving high-level autonomous driving functions. In the short term, it is difficult to completely get rid of high-precision maps and achieve end-to-end. Therefore, multi-sensor fusion + lightweight, high-precision maps have become the mainstream solution for the transition phase. The cost reduction of lidar and the emergence of lightweight maps are expected to accelerate the commercialization of high-level autonomous driving.

Application: "Luobo Kuaipao" has seen a surge in orders in Wuhan, and the commercial closed loop of Robotaxi has initially formed.

The commercialization path of Robotaxi is gradually evolving into a "golden triangle" cooperation model of "professional division of labor + deep cooperation binding". Currently, there are three types of main forces in the Robotaxi track: Internet companies, automobile companies, and travel companies. Currently, the global Robotaxi industry is at a key node of transformation from test demonstration applications that are detached from actual application scenarios to commercial landing of unmanned driving. In July 2024, Luobo Kuaipao saw an explosive growth in its unmanned driving orders in Wuhan, which reflects that the commercial model of Robotaxi has gradually matured. The sixth-generation Robotaxi of Baidu improves safety while reducing costs. The goal of Luobo Kuaipao is to achieve a balance between income and expenditure in Wuhan by the end of 2024 and achieve full profitability in 2025. The commercial closed loop of Robotaxi has initially formed. In addition, the release of Tesla's Robotaxi, and the gradual opening of the Chinese market, is expected to help promote the landing process of high-level autonomous driving in China.

Target: Bullish on the investment opportunities of the autonomous driving theme, strongly recommend Thunder Software Technology (300496.SZ), recommend Desay SV Automotive (002920.SZ), ForU Corporation (002906.SZ), and suggest paying attention to China Transinfo Technology (002373.SZ), Tongxingbao (301339.SZ), and VanJee Technology (300552.SZ).

Risk Warning: The promotion of autonomous driving policies may not meet expectations; the development of autonomous driving technology may not meet expectations; and the exploration of autonomous driving business models may not meet expectations.