23 September 2025 | News
Image Courtesy: Public Domain
Robo.ai Inc. announces that it will establish a commercial vehicle joint venture with Pakistan's leading company JW Group, in furtherance of its strategic goal of contributing to green mobility and smart city development. The JV will be named RoBUS and headquartered in UAE. Robo.ai is also pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. River Zhang as the Robo AI's Chief Industrial Officer and President of RoBUS. Mr. Zhang, a former senior executive at NIO, Ford, and Volvo, has played a leading role in the successful launch of nearly 20 vehicle models. He brings extensive expertise in automotive production and intelligent manufacturing.
The establishment of RoBUS represents yet another important milestone in implementing Robo.ai's strategic vision of "Middle East Headquarters + Collaborative Manufacturing + Global Market." The parties had earlier announced plans for a commercial vehicle production base in South Asia. Leveraging JW Group's established manufacturing capabilities and international distribution network, RoBUS intends to develop customized products for the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia, aligned with applicable local regulations and customer requirements.
Robo.ai will contribute capital market support, brand building expertise, and market expansion facilitation in the Middle East and globally. JW Group is expected to provide manufacturing capacity through its overseas facilities and extend market reach via its network of more than 400 distributors.
Planned Product Portfolio
RO1 Green Smart Luxury Coach Series: Covering 6–12 meter new energy coaches for intercity, tourism, and commuter services. Features include a full-load bearing structure, enhanced frontal collision protection, and next-generation integrated digital technology to support safety, stability and reliability under diverse driving conditions in South Asia and the Middle East.
RO2 Green Smart City Bus Series: Covering 9–12 meter new energy buses tailored to the needs of urban public transport. With a modern design and advanced intelligent driver-assist features, RO2 aims to enhance safety and efficiency..
RO3 Premium Business Vehicle Series: Designed for executive and corporate travel, combining safety, reliability, comfort, intelligence, and performance to deliver a high-quality and premium mobility experience.
Mr. Javed Afridi, Chief Executive Officer of JW Group, commented:
"The creation of RoBUS will accelerate the adoption of green and smart commercial vehicles. By establishing a shared intelligent manufacturing platform, we look forward to collaborating with Robo.ai to build a highly influential commercial vehicle hub to serve global markets."
Mr. River Zhang, President of RoBUS, added:
"The establishment of RoBUS is a key initiative supporting UAE's 'We the UAE 2031' national vision and our goal to create a green and smart commercial vehicle platform. Following Robo.ai's recent investment in Arkreen, a DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) technology company, our smart vehicles are envisioned not only as carriers of green mobility but also as future-ready assets seamlessly integrated into intelligent economic ecosystems."