
自动驾驶卡车公司Aurora Innovation Inc.预计今年无法实现生产目标,但表示有望在2027年恢复进度。
Self-driving trucking company Aurora Innovation Inc. expects to fall short of its production target for this year but said it’s on track to recover for 2027.
Aurora表示,供应商问题造成了制约,公司到明年2月才能实现200辆卡车上路的目标。这意味着Aurora将无法实现2026年的营收目标,该公司周三公布季度业绩时作出了上述表态。
Aurora said supplier issues caused constraints and the company won’t meet its goal of 200 trucks on the road until next February. That means Aurora will fall short of its revenue goal for 2026, the company said Wednesday as it reported quarterly results.
首席财务官David Maday在接受彭博新闻社采访时表示,供应商问题已经解决,目前的生产进度有望实现在2027年底前让1000辆卡车上路的既定目标。展望未来,来自九个不同客户的需求超出了公司的承接能力。
The supplier issues have been resolved and production is now on pace to meet its previously-stated goal of 1,000 trucks on the road by the end of 2027, Chief Financial Officer David Maday said in an interview with Bloomberg News. Going forward, the company has more demand than it can handle from nine different customers.
“我们确实认为自己正处于商业拐点,”Maday在底特律郊区Roush Enterprises Inc.工厂的卡车装配线旁一边走一边说。Roush负责Aurora卡车的总装。
“We really think we’re at a commercial inflection point,” Maday said while walking along the truck’s assembly line in a Roush Enterprises Inc. plant in suburban Detroit. Roush handles the final assembly of Aurora’s rigs.

Aurora的目标是在2030年底前让3万辆卡车上路,随着这一目标渐近,公司打算转变商业模式。公司不再为客户拥有和运营无人驾驶卡车,而是计划管理由托运客户拥有的车队。据Maday称,随着收入增加、账面上资产减少,公司应在2028年实现正现金流。
Aurora aims to shift its business model as it inches closer to its target of 30,000 trucks on the road by the end of 2030. Instead of owning and operating driverless trucks for clients, it plans to manage fleets that its shipping customers will own. The company should hit positive cash flow in 2028 with more revenue and fewer assets on its books, according to Maday.
为实现这一目标,Aurora将不得不筹集资金。公司有信贷额度,但也可以发行股票。
To get there, Aurora will have to raise money. The company has a line of credit but could issue shares.
自2021年通过特殊目的收购公司上市以来,Aurora走过了一连串坎坷。公司在2022年实施了削减成本的措施,当时投资者对资助自动驾驶公司已经失去兴趣。当时,首席执行官Chris Urmson向员工发送了一份备忘录,列出了保留现金的各种方法。Urmson甚至提出了将公司出售给微软或苹果等科技巨头的想法。
Aurora has worked through a string of pitfalls since going public via a Special Purpose Acquisition Company in 2021. It enacted cost cuts in 2022, when investors had soured on funding self-driving firms. At the time, Chief Executive Officer Chris Urmson sent a memo to staff that listed ways to preserve cash. Urmson even floated the idea of selling the company to a tech giant like Microsoft Corp. or Apple Inc.
公司在2024年坚持了下来并筹集了资金,但也将商用卡车全面无人驾驶的时间推迟到了2025年。联合创始人斯特林·安德森于去年5月离职,出任通用汽车公司首席产品官。
The company held on and raised money in 2024, but also delayed going fully driverless with its commercial trucks to 2025. Co-founder Sterling Anderson left in May of last year to become chief product officer at General Motors Co.
Aurora的股价在上市后曾达到17美元以上的高点,目前约为5美元。通往量产的道路并不平坦。Aurora去年将驾驶员从卡车上撤下,结果其制造商帕卡公司要求车上保留一名人类驾驶员。公司正与帕卡合作,在下一代卡车上取消驾驶员。其目前的卡车由德国传拓集团旗下的国际汽车公司制造。
Aurora’s stock reached a high of more than $17 after going public and now sits at around $5 a The road to production has been bumpy. Aurora took the driver out of its trucks last year, only to have its manufacturer Paccar Inc. request that a human remain behind the wheel. The company is working with Paccar to remove the driver in a future generation of rigs. Its current rigs are built by International Motors, a subsidiary of Germany’s Traton Group.

“帕卡厌恶风险,”马代说。“他们从责任的角度考虑,希望驾驶室里有人。”在劳什的工厂里,工人完成最后的生产步骤,为卡车升级无人驾驶控制系统以及一套摄像头、激光雷达和传感器。该工厂12月每周将生产多达20辆自动驾驶8级卡车。马代表示,他们可能会将产能翻倍。
“Paccar is risk averse,” Maday said. “They looked at it from a liability perspective and wanted someone in the cabin.”At Roush’s plant, workers complete the final production step, upgrading the trucks with driverless controls and a suite of cameras, lidar and sensors. The factory will produce up to 20 self-driving Class 8 trucks a week in December. Maday said they may double that capacity.
Aurora在7月成功取消了驾驶员。赫希巴赫汽车运输公司、麦克莱恩公司和德特马物流等客户正在运营无人驾驶业务。
Aurora was able to take out the driver in July. Customers including Hirschbach Motor Lines, McLane Co. and Detmar Logistics are running driverless operations.
“我们的故事现在相当清晰,”马代说。“我们实现了无人驾驶,我们正在生产卡车,而且今年和明年的需求都很充足。”
“Our story is now pretty straightforward,” Maday said. “We’re driverless, we’re producing trucks and we have plenty of demand for this year and next.”