China's automotive light detection and ranging sensor sector is moving from early technology validation into scaled mass production, with competition among leading suppliers increasingly centered on delivery capability and cost optimization.

The shift is becoming clearer, according to the companies' latest annual reports, as leading lidar suppliers expand production capacity and secure more vehicle programs.

Lidar supplier Hesai said it plans to raise annual production capacity to more than 4 million units in 2026. The company also said it had secured multi-lidar design wins with Li Auto, Xiaomi and Changan, with start of production planned for 2026 and 2027.

RoboSense, a Shenzhen-based lidar company, said it had secured design wins for over 167 vehicle models.

Another lidar player, Seyond, said its project orders covered more than 60 vehicle models by the end of 2025.

The shift was also evident in the growth of shipments in 2025. Hesai delivered more than 1.62 million lidar units, up 222.9 percent year-on-year, including 1.38 million units for advanced driver assistance systems. RoboSense delivered 912,000 units, while Seyond's annual lidar shipments exceeded 332,000 units.

According to data from research institute Gaogong, the number of lidar units fitted as standard equipment in China's passenger vehicle market reached 3.24 million in 2025, up 112.07 percent year-on-year, with penetration rates rising above 20 percent. The figures indicate that lidar is moving into a wider range of production models as automakers expand advanced driver assistance systems.

The gains from scale expansion and cost control are also starting to show in financial results.

Hesai became the first lidar company to report full-year profitability under generally accepted accounting principles. It posted revenue of 3.03 billion yuan ($444.19 million), and net profit of 435.9 million yuan in 2025.

RoboSense sharply narrowed its annual loss and reported its first quarterly profit in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Seyond reported a positive gross margin of 7.9 percent in 2025, compared with an 8.7 percent fall in 2024, while its adjusted net loss narrowed by 24 percent.

The annual reports also suggest that margin improvement was driven mainly by economies of scale and cost control.

Seyond said the cost of sales fell 18.2 percent year-on-year in 2025, helped by mass production and lower unit costs.

RoboSense said lower raw material costs and its in-house developed chips supported margin gains. Meanwhile, Hesai highlighted in-house manufacturing and automated production as it scales up for mass-production vehicle programs.

All three companies are also expanding into robotics and other non-vehicle applications. Automotive programs, however, remain their core business, as lidar adoption gradually extends beyond premium intelligent driving models into volume brand ones.