Investing.com -- Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng announced Monday it has started mass production of its first robotaxi at its Guangzhou headquarters. The company aims to launch fully driverless operations by early 2027.

The new robotaxi is built on Xpeng's GX platform and represents China's first production-ready, pre-assembled robotaxi model developed with in-house technologies, according to the company.

Xpeng plans to start pilot robotaxi operations in the second half of this year. The company expects to produce hundreds to thousands of robotaxis over the next 12 to 18 months, President Brian Gu said last month.

The Tesla rival is expanding its focus toward driverless vehicles and humanoid robotics as competition grows in the world's largest auto market.