Waymo will begin testing autonomous Toyota bZ4X vehicles in Japan in 2027 as part of a broader partnership in which Toyota will manufacture the vehicles and integrate Waymo's self-driving hardware on a factory production line1,2. Waymo has mostly relied on retrofitted vehicles for its autonomous fleet; the Toyota deal represents a carmaker building the autonomous-ready version directly on a production line.
Under the partnership announced on October 30, Toyota will manufacture the 2027 bZ4X vehicles and install Waymo's driving hardware at its Takaoka plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. The autonomous vehicles will initially be tested in Japan, where Waymo intends to eventually operate a robotaxi service. Deployment will extend to other right-hand-drive markets, including the United Kingdom, in later years.
From retrofit to factory integration
Toyota will handle both vehicle manufacturing and Waymo hardware integration at the same Takaoka facility.
The announcement follows a preliminary agreement signed roughly 18 months earlier to explore the development and deployment of an autonomous vehicle platform. That earlier agreement was described as vague enough to leave room for interpretation. The October 30 announcement firms up the relationship into a concrete vehicle-supply arrangement for specific regional markets.
Waymo has been testing its autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in London for months and plans to launch a robotaxi service there once it receives the necessary permits. The Toyota bZ4X — now marketed as the BZ in North America — would give Waymo a second vehicle platform for its international operations.
Scope beyond robotaxis
The companies also indicated the partnership could extend beyond ride-hailing. Waymo and Toyota plan to explore bringing Waymo's autonomous technology to personally owned Toyota vehicles and to pursue other initiatives using insights from Waymo's real-world operations to improve safety for other road users. Hiroki Nakajima, executive vice president of Toyota and a board member, is involved in the partnership.
Neither company disclosed fleet size, specific Japanese cities for testing, a passenger-service launch date, or pricing.
ANALYSIS Factory-line integration of autonomous hardware represents a structural change from the retrofit model Waymo has used with the Jaguar I-Pace, potentially lowering per-unit costs and enabling faster fleet scaling in new markets.
The deal lands as the robotaxi sector intensifies in the United States. Tesla's Texas robotaxi fleet reached 1,080 vehicles on October 28, split between Cybercabs and Model Ys[3], and its Houston service expanded its geofence tenfold, though riders reported long detours and failed pickups[1]. Waymo's Toyota partnership shifts the competitive frame to international markets where neither company yet operates a commercial autonomous ride service.