They won’t catch the virus so Chinese robovan maker’s sales jump

Attendees looking in the window of a Neolix autonomous vending-machine vehicle during a launch event at the company's facility in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, China. Neolix’s inventories have been depleted during the epidemic as its vehicles have been used to deliver medical supplies in hospitals, including in Wuhan, at the outbreak’s epicenter. Its vans are also being used to help disinfect streets and move food to people who are working on the front lines to curb the spread of the virus, Yu said. — Bloomberg

The coronavirus has hurt many companies in China and around the world. Neolix, a driverless delivery business based in Beijing, isn’t among them – in fact, it’s seen a jump in demand.

The startup, which has attracted customers including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Meituan Dianping and JD.Com Inc, has booked orders for more than 200 vehicles in the past two months; before then, it had only produced 125 units since manufacturing began last May, founder Yu Enyuan said in an interview.