SINGAPORE, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Two Chinese robotaxi

companies said on Saturday they will partner with Singapore

companies to launch shuttle services in the city-state as it

expands into autonomous driving.

Ride-hailing operator Grab said it would partner with

China's WeRide ( WRD ) to begin services next year. Pony.ai and

Singapore taxi and transport company ComfortDelGro

said they were teaming up for similar services.

Grab said in a statement it has been selected by local

authorities to operate two autonomous shuttle service routes in

the Punggol area.

It will begin taking passengers on five- and eight-seater

vehicle models from WeRide ( WRD ) from early 2026, after a test phase

for the vehicles to study the routes in detail.

In July, WeRide ( WRD ) was granted a permit from the Shanghai

municipal government to operate autonomous robotaxi ride-hailing

services.

Pony.ai said in a statement on Saturday that it and

ComfortDelGro plan to introduce autonomous vehicle services

initially in Punggol before expanding to neighbouring

communities, and that they will begin services "in the coming

months" after obtaining regulatory approval.

Singapore's Land Transport Authority said in a separate

statement that Pony.ai and ComfortDelGro will ply a 12-km

(7.5-mile) route in Punggol.

The LTA said both WeRide ( WRD ) and Pony.ai have "a proven track

record of deploying (automated vehicles) overseas across

multiple vehicle types, including shuttles and cars."

Pony.ai now operates commercial robotaxis in four of China's

largest cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Pony.ai, backed by Toyota Motor ( TM ), has also been

exploring deploying its driverless service in South Korea,

Luxembourg, the Middle East and other countries after raising

$260 million from its Nasdaq listing in November. It plans to

grow its robotaxi fleet to 1,000 by the end of this year.

The Singapore government has been exploring autonomous

driving technology, with Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow

visiting several autonomous driving companies in China in June.