Mobileye Global (NASDAQ:MBLY) executives said the company is seeing continued strength in its core advanced driver-assistance systems business, helped by Chinese automaker exports, rising ADAS adoption and new program wins, while maintaining a cautious stance on the second half of the year amid macro and geopolitical uncertainty.
Speaking at TD Cowen’s 54th Annual TMT conference, Dan Galves of Mobileye said the company “performed really well” in the first quarter, with revenue growing 27%. He said that even excluding safety stock normalization, Mobileye grew 15% to 16% in a global auto market that was down about 3%.
China Exports Provide a Tailwind
Nimrod Nehushtan, Mobileye’s EVP of Strategy & Business Development, said Chinese automaker exports have become a meaningful source of strength, particularly as several Mobileye customers expand into emerging markets.
He said Mobileye has launched new products with Chinese customers that replaced non-Mobileye solutions, while export volumes have increased. Nehushtan cited Chery and Geely as two larger customers with significant export exposure, saying their export market volumes increased by more than 100% in the first quarter.
“That’s created a strong tailwind for us, and we think that it can continue,” Nehushtan said. He added that the growth is largely in Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and South America, and does not appear to be cannibalizing Mobileye’s volumes in Europe, the U.S. or Japan.
On China more broadly, Nehushtan said Mobileye’s focus for advanced technologies remains in Europe, the U.S., Japan and Korea, but that participation in China remains useful as a technology proof point.
India Seen as a New Growth Market
Mobileye also discussed India as a potential growth opportunity, highlighting its recent collaboration with Mahindra. Nehushtan said India is the third-largest auto market by annual unit sales, but ADAS adoption is currently below 10%.
He pointed to the upcoming Bharat NCAP regulation in 2027, which he said will mandate emergency braking and potentially additional features for new vehicles sold in India. That could raise ADAS adoption to 60%, 70% or 80%, creating “additional millions of units per year” that would require ADAS technology.
For Mahindra, Nehushtan said the collaboration includes Mobileye’s SuperVision and Surround ADAS products. He said Mahindra wants Surround ADAS in roughly 50% to 60% of its cars starting in 2028, with SuperVision in about 10% to 15% of its cars.
Mobileye Defends Position in Core ADAS
Addressing competition, Nehushtan said Mobileye continues to hold a strong position in high-volume ADAS programs. He said Mobileye has won more than 98% of published volumes from its customers for high-volume cars over the past three years, while also adding Volvo and Subaru as customers.
He said Mobileye’s competitive advantage in base ADAS comes from the balance of performance and cost, noting that the company has more than 250 million cars on the road and has not had a recall.
Galves added that Mobileye’s ability to sustain business with Chinese OEMs, participate in China exports and pursue Surround ADAS opportunities gives the company a path to grow the ADAS business sustainably.
For Surround ADAS, Nehushtan said the funnel is “very healthy” because regulation is pushing automakers to add new features and use cases. He said Mobileye’s first two Surround ADAS customers have sourced a combined 20 million units, including programs that will be standard fit across multiple models.
Robotaxi Deployment Targets Back Half of 2025
On robotaxis, Nehushtan said Volkswagen has established an operational manufacturing line in Hanover to produce robotaxis at scale, which he described as a major accomplishment. Mobileye is now using vehicles from that production line for validation and early deployment testing.
He said the company needs several months of validation to confirm that the vehicles meet performance, stability and quality requirements, after which Mobileye and its partners can begin the sequence of removing safety drivers. He said that process is planned for the back half of this year.
When asked about costs versus competitors, Nehushtan said Mobileye’s current robotaxi system has a bill of materials cost advantage of roughly 5-to-1 to 10-to-1 versus Waymo’s current system. He said Mobileye uses off-the-shelf sensors, along with its own imaging radar and cost-efficient compute.
On revenue timing, Nehushtan said a material impact from robotaxis would not realistically arrive before 2028 if defined as roughly 10% of revenue. Galves said a smaller 3% to 4% revenue bump could potentially occur in the back half of 2027.
Nehushtan said Mobileye’s previously discussed Mobileye Drive average selling price of about $50,000 per vehicle is now “a little bit higher than that,” with roughly one-third paid upfront per car and the rest paid quarterly based on vehicle operations and mileage.
Mentee Robotics Acquisition Expands Physical AI Efforts
Mobileye also addressed its acquisition of Mentee Robotics. Nehushtan said he would not describe the deal as a pivot, but rather an expansion of Mobileye’s work in physical AI.
He said robotics and robotaxis share common challenges, including operating safely in the real world, engaging with humans and scaling reliably. Nehushtan said Mobileye brings strengths in simulation, AI architecture, training infrastructure and hardware design, while Mentee contributes advanced simulation and data creation technologies.
He said it is still early to define the go-to-market strategy, but possible applications include manufacturing lines, logistics and potentially home use.
About Mobileye Global (NASDAQ:MBLY)
Mobileye Global Inc (NASDAQ: MBLY) is a leader in the development of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving technologies. Headquartered in Jerusalem, Israel, the company designs and supplies computer vision-based solutions that enable vehicles to detect and respond to road conditions, obstacles and signage. Mobileye’s core offering centers on its proprietary EyeQ system-on-a-chip (SoC) family, which processes video streams from automotive cameras to deliver features such as lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, collision prevention and traffic sign recognition.
Founded in 1999 by Prof.
