The coronavirus has had a major impact in many ways, causing events to be cancelled and companies to face supply shortages. But one company in Beijing has seen an increase in demand for its business instead. This company is Neolix, a startup from Beijing that develops autonomous delivery vehicles.
According to Bloomberg, the disruption caused by the virus has caused China to rely more on autonomous transport systems. In particular, driverless technology company Neolix's small vans have seen a surge in use as it is able to help deliver items while minimising human contact. Due to the quarantines and travel restrictions set in place by the Chinese government, this is critical as the vans are able to help deliver medical supplies to the hospitals.
In fact, Neolix has apparently run out of unused vans as the available ones are all being used by the hospitals in Wuhan. Yu Enyuan, founder of Neolix, has also mentioned that the vans are being used to disinfect the streets and delivering food to people who are working there to stop the virus from spreading further.
The surge in demand is seen as positive by the company, as it has given people a positive image on driverless technology. As a result, local authorities in China are even offering subsidies of up to 60% for purchase of the driverless vans. This would greatly increase the sales volume of Neolix for 2020, with the company setting a sales target of 1000 units.
It's really interesting to see how certain technologies or companies actually experience a windfall through a disaster like this. But with that said, how well do you think driverless delivery vehicles would work in Malaysia? Let us know what you think on our Facebook page and stay tuned to TechNave.com for more news like this.
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