Waymo’s driverless cars are about to get a Japanese assembly line. Toyota will manufacture a purpose-built version of its bZ4X electric SUV with Waymo’s self-driving system installed at the factory, under an expanded partnership that will put robotaxis on roads in Japan from 2027 and in the UK after that.
From Handshake to Production Plan
The deal, announced on Friday, turns a preliminary agreement signed in April 2025 into something concrete: a named vehicle, a named factory and a start date. Toyota will build the cars at its Takaoka plant in Toyota City, handling everything under one roof, from assembling the base vehicle to fitting Waymo’s Level 4 hardware. The partners describe it as a step towards Japan’s first fully autonomous ride-hailing service using high-volume, domestically manufactured vehicles, and the announcement is covered in detail in TechCrunch’s report on the robotaxi plan.
Why Japan and Britain Come First
Both countries drive on the left, and the bZ4X is already built in right-hand-drive form at Takaoka, which makes them natural first markets. Waymo has been testing Jaguar vehicles in London for months and is waiting on the permits it needs for a commercial service there. Initial operations in Japan will involve a small number of vehicles, Toyota board member Hiroki Nakajima told reporters, with a commercial service to follow once testing and validation are complete.
A Supplier Strategy, Not a Software Race
The arrangement underlines how Toyota prefers to enter the robotaxi business: as the manufacturer behind the fleets rather than the author of the driving software. It is a pattern visible across our technology coverage, where carmakers increasingly partner with autonomy specialists instead of building everything in-house. Waymo, for its part, gains a reliable, high-volume supply of vehicles tailored to markets that its US-built fleet does not suit.
Neither company would say how many vehicles will be built or what the deal is worth. But with a factory, a vehicle and a 2027 start date now public, the robotaxi race has a new and very serious production line behind it.
