On August 24, 2026, ROBOSENSE (02498.HK) suffered a severe opening drop, with shares hitting an intraday low of HK$17.85 before closing at HK$17.90. The stock tumbled 14.52% for the day, with trading volume surging to 16.5 million shares and turnover reaching HK$307 million, while the turnover rate climbed to 3.41%. On the same day, lidar rivals Hesai and Innovusion also declined 3.69% and 3.46% respectively, partly due to broader market weakness. However, RoboSense's abnormal share price movement was directly tied to a massive automotive recall.

Recall Takes Effect: 93,000 Vehicles Involve RoboSense Lidar Units

On August 24, two batches of recalls by Geely Automobile officially took effect. The first batch covers 18,878 Geely Galaxy M9 vehicles produced between July 20 and October 26, 2025. The second batch involves 74,037 units of Lynk & Co 900, Lynk & Co 10 EM-P, Lynk & Co 07, and Lynk & Co 08, manufactured from January 8 to December 10, 2025. Together, the two batches total 92,915 vehicles. The recall points to a single supplier: ROBOSENSE.

According to the announcement from the State Administration for Market Regulation, the issue stems from "supplier manufacturing process fluctuations that may cause damage to the internal power IC within the lidar unit." The power IC is a core chip responsible for power management inside the lidar; if damaged, it could lead to unstable power supply and device malfunction. The announcement noted that this problem could cause "combined driver assistance functions to exit or fail to activate," and if users do not address it promptly, "there are safety hazards under extreme conditions." The affected vehicles are equipped with RoboSense's M-platform series lidar units.

Specific symptoms reported include frequent prompts to "clean the roof-mounted lidar" while driving, with advanced driver assistance functions such as highway NOA and urban NOA being forcibly locked by the system. Some owners even received calls from dealers before any fault warning appeared on their vehicles, with dealers stating that backend monitoring detected abnormal lidar data and recommending replacement. All vehicles involved in the recall are equipped with one lidar unit each, corresponding to approximately 92,915 units in total. This volume accounts for roughly 21.3% of RoboSense's expected total ADAS lidar sales of 436,600 units for the first half of 2026.

The recall measure involves free replacement of the lidar units, with early diagnostic signals identified through the cloud platform, and a 400 hotline proactively inviting owners to visit dealerships for replacement. ROBOSENSE, as the supplier, will bear the corresponding replacement costs.

Deep Ties with Geely Amplify the Impact

RoboSense's deep relationship with Geely has magnified the shock of this incident. Public information shows that RoboSense's products have been widely applied across dozens of models under brands including Zeekr, Lynk & Co, and Galaxy. Geely is one of its most important customers—according to the 2025 annual report, revenue from the top five customers accounts for over 40%, with Geely among them. The replacement cost for nearly 93,000 lidar units in this recall represents a significant financial burden for ROBOSENSE, which remains in a loss-making state.

More importantly, this recall could affect Geely's confidence in future orders to RoboSense, and may also influence how other automaker clients evaluate RoboSense's product quality. The incident could potentially reshape customer relationships and procurement decisions across the industry.

From June Complaints to August Recall: A Problem That Escalated Gradually

This quality issue evolved over nearly three months. Starting in June 2026, models such as the Lynk & Co 900 and 10 EM-P began to report lidar malfunctions. By July, complaints began to cluster. Data from automotive quality complaint platforms such as Chezhiwang showed that within just five days from July 30 to August 3, at least 11 lidar-related complaints emerged for the Lynk & Co 10 and Lynk & Co 900 models alone, covering multiple configurations including the 2025 120 AWD Ultra and the 2026 10+ AWD Racing Edition.

The fault patterns were highly consistent: without any collision, water damage, or external force, vehicle systems frequently displayed messages such as "Driver assistance speed limited, function restricted" and "Front lidar malfunction, please contact dealer," with advanced intelligent driving functions forcibly locked. Restarting the vehicle did not resolve the issue. Meanwhile, multiple complaints about lidar failures on the Lynk & Co 900, 10 EM-P, and 08 also appeared on the Heimao complaint platform. Some owners posted their dissatisfaction in Lynk & Co community forums.

On August 12, an insider from Lynk & Co responded to media inquiries, stating that the company was analyzing the cause with the supplier. However, the primary solution offered by Lynk & Co after-sales was a free replacement of the lidar assembly within the warranty period. This approach did not placate owners. Some owners repeatedly demanded that Lynk & Co disclose the affected component batches and the root cause of the failures, but received no response, prompting them to pursue legal action. Other owners argued that the manufacturer's failure to disclose the specific cause, affected batches, and scope of the issue meant that merely replacing components was insufficient to eliminate concerns. Additionally, replacing the lidar requires removing the vehicle roof, and repair records could affect resale value.

On August 21, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a recall notice, with Zhejiang Geely Automobile Co., Ltd. officially filing its recall plan. This recall marks the first large-scale recall in China triggered by lidar, a core component of intelligent driving systems.

Industry Competition and Profitability Targets Under Pressure

In the lidar industry, ROBOSENSE and Hesai Technology are the two main listed companies in China, but the gap in their profitability progress is widening. Hesai has already achieved profitability. In the second quarter of 2026, Hesai posted revenue of RMB 861 million, up 21.9% year-over-year, with GAAP net profit of RMB 70.55 million, up 60%, marking its fifth consecutive profitable quarter. For the first half of 2026, Hesai reported net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 88.87 million, a 234.87% increase year-over-year.

As for ROBOSENSE, the company achieved its first quarterly profit in the fourth quarter of 2025 (net profit of RMB 106 million), which was widely viewed by the market as a signal of entering a sustained profitability cycle. However, in the first quarter of 2026, the company reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of RMB 64.22 million, indicating ongoing earnings volatility. This recall of nearly 93,000 lidar units poses a direct challenge to RoboSense's 2026 profitability targets. The material, logistics, and labor costs associated with replacing the lidar units will be directly booked into current-period expenses. For a company still hovering near the breakeven point, the financial impact of this event cannot be overlooked.

ROBOSENSE is expected to release its 2026 interim results on August 26. The market will be watching several key issues: how the replacement costs for the recalled lidar units will be allocated, and whether there are broader batch-level quality concerns. These issues will directly influence market judgments on RoboSense's short-term profitability and long-term quality outlook.

Robotics Growth and Broader Industry Concerns

Amid the crisis, ROBOSENSE is not without bright spots. On July 30, the company announced it would exclusively supply the rear solid-state lidar for the Xiaomi N90 Max. At the Second World Humanoid Robot Games held in August, the Glory humanoid robot "Lightning," equipped with RoboSense lidar, set three new records. In the first quarter of 2026, the company sold 185,500 lidar units for robotics applications, up 1,458.8% year-over-year, surpassing its ADAS business for the first time. Company management provided clear guidance at the 2025 results briefing: a robotics lidar sales target of 800,000 to 1 million units for 2026.

However, from a longer-term perspective, the greater risk lies in shaken confidence at the industry level. The intelligent driving industry has long been divided over the technical route for lidar—pure vision solutions (such as Tesla's) continue to evolve, and while lidar costs are declining, it has yet to establish an irreplaceable consensus. This recall could prompt some automakers to reassess lidar solutions in their vehicle planning, shifting toward more conservative configuration strategies or accelerating the development of pure vision approaches. If this trend takes hold, it could have a substantial impact on the long-term market space for ROBOSENSE and the entire lidar industry.

When a core component of intelligent driving faces quality issues, the market responded with a 14.52% drop. The quality control system of the lidar leader is now undergoing a severe test.