Chinese search engine giant Baidu said on Wednesday it expects its key robotaxi business to break even in the fourth quarter of this year and aims to be the first autonomous ride-hailing project to profit by 2025, as planned. The country’s top search engine unveiled its sixth generation self-driving car, a battery-powered multipurpose vehicle costing RMB 204,600 ($28,316), a fraction of its original price. French market intelligence company Yole Développement estimated in 2018 that robocars would have to be priced at no less than $200,000. Li added that the company was determined to invest hugely in self-driving technologies over the next 10-20 years. “With decreasing costs and increasing orders, Apollo Go’s unit economics (UE) is nearing break-even, expected to achieve balance in the fourth quarter of 2024 and turn profitable by 2025,” Baidu said in a press release.