Momenta (HKEX: 6880) has received a nationwide Level 4 autonomous-driving testing permit from Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), becoming the first Chinese company to secure such authorization covering urban roads across the country1,3,7.
The company announced the approval on July 29, 20266. Momenta's Hong Kong-listed shares surged over 10% intraday on the news.
The permit eliminates the need for city-by-city applications, allowing Momenta to extend testing across German urban areas under a single authorization8. The company's safety validation standards will be directly aligned with the European Union's regulatory framework under the permit.
The KBA oversees vehicle safety and type approval in one of the world's most tightly regulated automotive markets. The authorization applies to testing rather than unrestricted commercial robotaxi operations.
The approval underpins Momenta's planned robotaxi deployment in Munich, which was designated in 2025 as the launch city for the company's collaboration with Uber10. Momenta's L4 mobility platform partners also include Grab, Lumo, and SAIC Mobility5.
Momenta has established partnerships with Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and the Volkswagen Group. Mercedes-Benz became Momenta's first international automaker investor in 2017. The company runs its European headquarters in Böblingen alongside a Munich office.
Uber increased its investment during Momenta's Hong Kong IPO placement, bringing its total holding to about 1.19 million shares. Uber's wholly owned subsidiary SMB Holding Corporation was allocated 397,600 shares in the IPO offering, having previously participated in Momenta's Series C funding round completed in September 2025, where it held 791,055 preferred shares. Based on the IPO price of HK$295.6 per share, Uber's stake is worth about HK$351 million ($45 million). Momenta listed in Hong Kong on July 8, raising about HK$6.8 billion.
Grab made a strategic investment in Momenta in December 2025.
Momenta CEO Xudong Cao said in a statement: "Germany has set one of the global benchmarks for how autonomous driving should be regulated — rigorously, and in the interest of public safety. True autonomous driving depends on a system that doesn't just see the road, but understands it: anticipating how a situation will unfold before it does". He described this anticipatory capability as the core of the company's "Physical AI" approach.
Beyond Munich, Momenta's robotaxi testing footprint includes Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Shenzhen, and Abu Dhabi. Mercedes-Benz and Momenta have launched a robotaxi fleet based on the Mercedes S-Class sedan in Abu Dhabi, with operations planned to commence in 2026. The SAIC Motor robotaxi project, equipped with Momenta's L4 intelligent driving system, is scheduled to debut in 2027.
Momenta released its R7 reinforcement learning world model in April and said it had been installed on mass-produced vehicles. The company says the R7 world model is based on over 120 billion kilometers of driving mileage and over 100 million segments of key scenario data. About 20% of Momenta's IPO proceeds are earmarked for advancing commercialization of its robotaxi business.
ANALYSIS The nationwide scope of the KBA permit is operationally significant: it removes the per-city bureaucratic bottleneck that has historically slowed autonomous-driving testing programs in Europe, giving Momenta access to diverse urban traffic environments under a single regulatory clearance. Combined with Uber's deepening financial commitment and the Munich robotaxi launch plan, the permit converts Momenta's existing German automaker partnerships into a pathway toward commercial deployment on their home turf.