Pony.ai and Bosch have announced an agreement to explore the future of automotive maintenance and repair for autonomous fleets.

To enable the efficient and scalable operation of future commercial autonomous fleets, Pony.ai and Bosch say that their Automotive Aftermarket division in North America plans to develop and pilot “innovative fleet maintenance solutions.”

Bosch operates the Bosch Car Service network, which turns 100 next year. The network is the oldest and largest automotive repair and maintenance network with over 20,000 locations across the world.

“High operational efficiency and fleet uptime is crucial to unlock the full economic potential of large-scale robotaxi fleets,” says Matthias Tan, director of product and partnerships at Pony.ai.

“Autonomous vehicles are incredibly complex and continuously evolving systems which need to be maintained to the highest standards possible. We needed a partner who was capable of delivering high quality fleet maintenance services, and wanted to seize the opportunity for joint innovation in fleet management solutions for autonomous vehicles.”

The Bosch Car Service network has more than one thousand locations in North America. Known for providing a unique footprint for national and local fleet operators, the network of independent operators not only acts on the highest industry standards, but it is also well known for having members that lead and set industry maintenance benchmarks on luxury, high performance and new technology vehicles across the entire nation.

“Bosch and Pony.ai immediately found a great overlap in our strategies, and opportunities where we can learn from each other,” says Jean-Philippe “JP” Persico, director of strategy, innovation and workshop business at Bosch.

“Bosch has the unique capability as a network to offer state-of-the-art software solutions, harmonized across our network, together with highly sophisticated and trained technicians.”

According to the companies, the AV industry is “dominated by a fragmented software landscape and high labor shortage.” As a result, the automotive maintenance market has a strong compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.36 percent outgrowing the overall aftermarket industry CAGR of 4 percent, the companies point out. 

“As a fleet operator, Pony.ai needs partners that not only provide quality and service excellence, but also the drive to adapt to our needs as we scale our fleet operations. Starting here in the Bay Area, Pony.ai and Bosch aim to test the readiness and operational efficiency to steer a fully autonomous multi-platform fleet with the highest uptime in the industry,” Tan says.

“We know the best way to scale and keep our fleet on the highest service standard is by utilizing an alliance with a network that has global reach and a strong technology backbone.”

The pilot of the robotaxi fleet maintenance started at an undisclosed Bosch Car Service location in the San Francisco Bay area in early July.