Gasgoo Munich- Since July, the Neolix X6T autonomous vehicle has operated at the SAIC Maxus Nanjing plant. Jointly developed by Neolix and SAIC Maxus, it transfers structural components from warehouses to the assembly line. After four months of continuous operation, this model has withstood real-world production rigors. Frontline staff rated it as "stable and increasingly effective the more it is used."
Shen Mengjie, head of final assembly at SAIC Maxus Nanjing, stated the facility is China's first automotive "Lighthouse Factory". It is also the world's first intelligent automaker to adopt a C2B model.
Under the C2B model, consecutive vehicles on the assembly line often require different parts. This prevents stocking fixed component categories. Instead, parts must be assembled to order and delivered to the line side according to the production beat. With limited space, delivering too early creates clutter. Delivering late or incorrectly risks halting production. In this environment, logistics preparation "cannot rely on stockpiling—it must rely on precision."
Image Credit: Neolix
Since the project's launch, X6T autonomous vehicles have been on standby around the clock. They are available at the touch of a button. Previously, the plant relied on human-driven forklifts and vans. These operations were constrained by driver schedules, resulting in relatively low digitization.
Frontline operator Geng Fan noted that requesting a vehicle previously involved phone calls and reporting coordinates. Operators waited for a driver to respond. This process took at least ten minutes for a round trip. Now, a smartphone tap dispatches the autonomous vehicle. Routing and docking points are precise. This allows faster response to urgent material requests.
Zhang Changwei, chief engineer for the autonomous vehicle project at SAIC Maxus Nanjing, explained the X6T is designed to automotive-grade standards. Significant margins were built into redundancy design and safety boundaries for extreme conditions. The team focused on stopping capability and braking deceleration curve smoothness. They ensured consistency across thousands of vehicles over tens of thousands of runs. Fault injection testing verified system safety within preset boundaries.
In this partnership, Neolix provides autonomous driving technology and operational platforms. SAIC Maxus handles vehicle intelligence and manufacturing. Since the July launch, the parties prioritized production coordination and large-scale deployment. The goal was transitioning vehicles from trials to regular operations. They accumulated continuous data across seasons and production paces to optimize the X6T's design.
Frontline feedback is categorized by safety, operational adaptability, and general usage. After determining if an issue is isolated or systemic, the team performs parameter tuning or hardware modifications. This creates an iterative mechanism of "building, using, and optimizing".
To date, Neolix has deployed over 30,000 autonomous logistics vehicles. They operate in more than 20 countries and 320 cities worldwide.
