TU-TESL

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What are they afraid of when talking about the future of cars. Aside from the core technology, there is a tricky question before us: how can a highly expensive autopilot make a profit? This problem also bothered Argo AI (hereinafter referred to as Argo) and its partners in automobiles and automobiles. These participants believe that they can open up new ways to deal with these problems compared with competitors with higher valuations. Specifically, they plan not to invest in autonomous taxi fleets (robot taxis), but to apply autonomous driving technology to freight transport or large passenger transport, charging by mileage. Bryan salesky is the leader of Argo's autopilot team and has worked on the Google car team for many years. Now, his team is at the heart of the traditional giant's bet on self driving, which they believe should not be limited to replacing taxi drivers. At the end of November, Jim Farley, a senior Ford executive, said at a meeting that as the second largest U.S. automaker, Ford was studying the application of Argo technology, "which may be more meaningful than robotic taxis," including the automatic delivery of materials to traders through subscription services. Thomas Sedran, the head of popular commercial vehicle and autopilot project, said that apart from the vehicles equipped with Argo technology in the Volkswagen exclusive fleet, other shared taxi companies and transport companies are also interested in cars equipped with Argo system. Perhaps this is another way Argo and its partners can make money. If the technology is adopted by more vehicles, the mileage will be multiplied and the profit will be more considerable. However, the specific business model is still under discussion, and the first task at this stage is to commercialize this technology. In addition, salesky expressed his aversion to the word robot Axi. "In terms of automatic driving, there are many application areas and business modules to be developed. What we need to do is to understand which modules are more profitable than other leading modules." Argo's business plan is based on a unique revenue sharing agreement. Under the agreement, Volkswagen or Ford will pay Argo according to mileage. It is worth noting that this detail has not been disclosed before. Argo's financial institutions are also different from those of its competitors. Ford and Volkswagen each own less than 40% of Argo, while the Argo management team owns more than 20%, according to sources. The equity structure has not been disclosed before. Potential commercial applications of Argo technology include long-distance truck transportation, e-commerce distribution, people transportation on urban fixed lines, and off-road applications such as mining. But there are competitors who don't think Argo has an edge. For example, Glen de Vos, chief technology officer of anbofo, claims that Argo does not have the component design capabilities of other competitors. On the other hand, Argo's valuation so far is lower than waymo's and cruise's, which are valued at $105 billion and $19 billion. After the Volkswagen Group invested $1.9 billion, Argo's valuation is about $7.25 billion, which is equivalent to the valuation of ATG, Uber's autonomous driving subsidiary.