Technology: Toyota will build Waymo's robotaxis and start testing them in Japan in 2027, with the UK to follow

Tokyo, Japan — Toyota will build Waymo's next robotaxis, and will begin testing a fleet of autonomous electric Toyota bZ4X vehicles in Japan in 2027, as part of an expanded partnership that also targets the United Kingdom, the companies announced Friday.

Under the deal, Toyota will manufacture the 2027 bZ4X and integrate Waymo's self-driving system at its Takaoka plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Rather than retrofitting finished vehicles, the entire process will take place on the same assembly line, from building the base vehicle to integrating Waymo's hardware.

Initial testing in Japan will use a small fleet — the companies did not say how many vehicles or in which cities — and will serve to validate the service before any eventual commercial autonomous ride-hailing service. After Japan, the plan is to deploy these vehicles in other markets where Waymo operates, starting with the United Kingdom, another country where people drive on the left and use right-hand-drive vehicles.

Waymo has already spent months testing its autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in London and plans to launch a robotaxi service there once it receives the necessary permits, while it has also tested that model in Japan. Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said they will start “with the right-hand-drive markets, Japan and the UK,” without announcing other countries or dates.

The announcement turns into a concrete product a collaboration that until now was only a preliminary agreement signed in April 2025 to explore developing an autonomous vehicle platform. The companies also said they will keep exploring bringing Waymo's technology to personally owned Toyota vehicles and using data from their operations to improve safety for other road users.

Photo: Waymo

Source: TechCrunch