Toyota to build Waymo-equipped bZ4X robotaxis at Takaoka plant, with Japan testing set for 2027

What Toyota and Waymo announced

Toyota Motor Corporation and Waymo announced on 30 October 2026 the next phase of their autonomous driving collaboration: the companies will begin initial operations to test and validate an autonomous Toyota bZ4X fleet in Japan in 2027, with deployment to the United Kingdom and other Waymo-serviced markets planned for the following years. Toyota says the partnership marks a major milestone towards Japan's first fully autonomous ride-hailing service using high-volume, domestically manufactured vehicles, building on a preliminary agreement the two companies announced in April 2025. ²

Toyota will build the vehicles at its Takaoka plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. According to Toyota's announcement, the entire process will take place under one roof, from assembling the base vehicle to integrating Waymo's autonomous vehicle hardware, giving Waymo a high-volume manufacturing partner for its Level 4 system. Automotive World, reporting on the announcement, credited the information to Toyota's own statement. ²¹

TechCrunch characterised the deal as looking, for now, like a conventional vehicle supplier arrangement that helps Waymo fill specific regional needs while adding a new model to its robotaxi portfolio, noting the April 2025 preliminary agreement had used language vague enough to leave plenty of room for interpretation. That publication's own analysis also observed the partnership could go beyond robotaxis, since the companies say they will continue exploring Waymo's technology for personally owned Toyota vehicles. ³

The vehicle: a modified bZ4X

The base vehicle is the Toyota bZ4X battery-electric SUV. Engadget, in its own reporting, notes the bZ4X is Toyota's first modern mass-market electric vehicle, developed on the e-TNGA platform created with Subaru. TechCrunch reports Toyota will manufacture 2027-model-year bZ4X vehicles for the programme and notes the electric vehicle is now known as the bZ in the North American market. ⁵³

The ride-hailing conversion differs from the customer bZ4X in several documented ways. Toyota says the custom-outfitted vehicle is designed for comfort and accessibility, with generous rear legroom, automatic doors, a power liftgate and ambient lighting to ease entry and exit for riders. Spanish outlet Motor.es, which says it previously road-tested the standard bZ4X, describes the Waymo hardware as the roof-mounted array that distinguishes these vehicles from conventional bZ4X models. ²⁴

Toyota and Waymo describe the goal as scaling safety-validated SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicles globally, meaning vehicles able to operate without human intervention within their operational domain. Motor.es similarly explains the Japanese testing is intended to validate the Level 4 system supplied by Waymo. These capability descriptions come from the companies' own statements and attributed reporting rather than independent validation of the vehicles. ²⁴

Deployment timeline and what remains unspecified

The confirmed sequence is initial testing and validation in Japan in 2027, with UK and other-market deployment planned for following years. Toyota's release frames the programme as paving the way for Japan's first domestically manufactured fully autonomous ride-hailing service, but the companies have not specified how many vehicles will be built, fleet volumes or when the bZ4X would join commercial service. Engadget reports it is unclear when the bZ4X will be added to Waymo's commercial fleet. ²⁵

Automotive World likewise notes the companies have not specified fleet numbers or a wide deployment timetable. Readers should treat the 2027 date as the start of testing and validation, not the start of paid passenger service: those are distinct milestones, and only the former is dated in the announcement. ¹

No Australian rollout is part of the announcement. The named expansion markets are the United Kingdom and other Waymo-serviced markets, with several outlets noting the UK's appeal as a right-hand-drive market alongside Japan. Any Australian availability would require separate confirmation, and none has been given. ²⁴¹

Context: Waymo's existing fleet and operations

The bZ4X will join vehicles Waymo already operates. Engadget reports Waymo began testing Jaguar I-PACE self-driving taxis in Japan in 2025, with drivers from Tokyo taxi company Nihon Kotsu driving the cars around the capital to train Waymo's software, and that Waymo plans to launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Tokyo next year as a result of those efforts. TechCrunch separately reports Waymo has been testing autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in London for months and plans a robotaxi service there once it receives the necessary permits. ⁵³

Motor.es adds European context, reporting that Waymo announced on 20 October 2026 its future arrival in Madrid with Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, alongside other autonomous mobility players taking shape in the Spanish capital. Waymo's own blog, in a separate post dated 14 October 2026, documents its consumer ride-hailing expansion in the United States, with service beginning in San Antonio, San Diego and Tampa. ⁴⁶

Executive claims and company interests

Both companies' executives framed the collaboration around safety. Dmitri Dolgov, Waymo's co-CEO, said in the joint statement that in areas where Waymo operates the company has demonstrated it is up to 20 times safer than human drivers when it comes to serious crash injuries, and that Waymo chose Toyota out of respect for the safety, reliability and quality of its vehicles. This safety comparison is a company claim from a party with a direct commercial interest in the partnership, not an independent finding. ²

Hiroki Nakajima, a member of Toyota's board and executive vice president, said the collaboration would help scale the technology to customers in Japan and beyond through Waymo's ride-hailing service, and that Toyota would in parallel explore how integrating vehicles with traffic infrastructure could make roads safer. Toyota and Waymo, alongside Woven by Toyota, say they will also explore how insights from Waymo's real-world operations and data could improve safety for other road users. TechCrunch notes what those additional initiatives might mean in practice is unclear. ²³

Ownership and interest context is relevant to interpretation: Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet, as Motor.es notes, and Toyota is both manufacturer of the vehicle and the operator's chosen supplier, so both parties benefit commercially from the programme's success. The announcements above are the companies' own positions; independent assessment of the vehicles' performance in service does not yet exist in the available record. ⁴²