China’s Hesai will double production as the lidar sensor business shakes out

Chinese lidar maker Hesai announced plans on Monday to increase its production capacity from 2 million units to 4 million units this year, as it looks to tap into the global market for laser-based sensors. That would be good from 1 million-plus mark that Hesai hit in 2025.

Hesai’s push for more market share comes just over a month after he led US lidar maker Luminar to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company is not expected to continue operating once approved, despite plans to sell the lidar business.

Hesai has raised hundreds of millions of dollars over the past few years and is now listed on the Nasdaq and Hong Kong stock exchanges. This is despite the fact that we are dealing with the US government, which has taken action he sued the company by working with Chinese military companies – a charge Hesai has denied.

At the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Hesai told reporters that he was able to double his production target due to “intensification” in the automotive and robotics industries.

The company’s automotive efforts were fueled by China’s auto market adoption of lidar sensors, which Hesai said are now in 25% of new electric vehicles sold in the country. It added that many new cars in China are expected to include three to six sensors per vehicle, “significantly expanding the Hesai market.” Hesai has 24 automotive customers, including a “top European” automaker, and said it has 4 million orders for its new ATX lidar sensor.

Automobiles have proven to be the most volatile market for lidar sensors outside of China. This is one of the factors that led to Luminar’s downfall, according to the company’s filing for bankruptcy. While Luminar secured contracts to integrate its lidar sensors into Volvo, Polestar, and Mercedes-Benz vehicles, those plans fell through. Volvo once agreed to buy it 1.1 million lidar sensors from Luminarbut delays in its new car programs and rising car costs forced the Swedish carmaker to pull out of the deal. (Volvo eventually bought about 10,000 sensors from Luminar.)

Robots are not guaranteed to be a successful market for lidar sensors, but other players besides Hesai see great promise. San Francisco-based Ouster, which acquired fellow player Velodyne in 2023 as the lidar business began to merge, what is said is believed robotics represents a $14 billion market opportunity. This includes not only humanoid robotics, but end-to-end delivery robots and military applications.

At CES, Hesai is showing off a robotic lawnmower and dog that uses the JT company’s lidar sensor. The company also showed its inclusion in humanoid robots. It has successfully supplied lidar sensors to independent companies such as Pony AI, Motional, WeRide, and Baidu.

Hesai also boasts that it has helped reduce the cost of lidar sensors by 99.5% in just eight years. This was also what led to Luminar’s downfall; “Forced to cut costs due to lower prices from competitors in China” is frequently listed in the company’s bankruptcy filings as the second most important factor explaining why the US company found it difficult to build a self-supporting business.