Hyundai Motor will begin mass-producing IONIQ 5 robotaxis for Waymo at its Georgia manufacturing complex as early as October, with plans to build tens of thousands of the autonomous vehicles, Hyundai Motor President and CEO Jose Munoz said on September 171,2.
The production-scale commitment marks a shift from pilot volumes to industrial output for Waymo's fleet. Hyundai Motor and Waymo signed a vehicle manufacturing agreement in 2024, stating at the time that they intended to supply a significant volume of vehicles without specifying an exact number. Munoz has now put a figure on the scope: tens of thousands of units.
Factory-integrated autonomy hardware
The first IONIQ 5 vehicles intended for more than testing will be delivered to Waymo in the fourth quarter. They will carry Waymo's sixth-generation autonomous driving hardware, the same stack used in the Zeekr minivans Waymo currently operates.
A key production difference separates the IONIQ 5 line from Waymo's existing Zeekr supply chain. Waymo independently equips Zeekr minivans with sensors at a facility in Arizona, but the IONIQ 5 vehicles will leave the Hyundai Motor factory already fitted with the required autonomous driving equipment. ANALYSIS Integrating Waymo's hardware directly on the assembly line rather than retrofitting at a separate facility could compress delivery timelines and reduce per-unit integration costs as volumes scale.
Munoz said robotaxi production is already a profitable business line for Hyundai Motor. He added that there is significant potential to scale the robotaxi business and that other customers are showing interest in robotaxi deliveries.
Fleet and facility context
Waymo's fleet currently numbers about 4,000 vehicles across 14 U.S. cities. Hyundai Motor also produces the IONIQ 5 for the autonomous transportation unit Motional.
At the Georgia facility, known as Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, Munoz said the company adjusted production capacity, increasing output of hybrid vehicles and reducing electric vehicle production.
Humanoid robotics on the factory floor
The robotaxi ramp-up sits within a broader physical AI strategy. Hyundai Motor Group plans to deploy about 25,000 ATLAS humanoid robots across its factories starting in 2028, moving the Boston Dynamics-developed humanoids from technology showcases into industrial work. Munoz spoke at the Hyundai Motor Group Tech Talent Forum in San Jose on September 17.
ANALYSIS The parallel commitments — tens of thousands of robotaxis rolling off the line and tens of thousands of humanoid robots entering the same manufacturing network — position Hyundai Motor as both a high-volume supplier to the autonomous vehicle sector and an early large-scale adopter of humanoid labor in automotive production.