Waymo invades Japan: Toyota will build its driverless taxis

Waymo and Toyota have moved from talk to an actual plan. In April 2025 the two signed a vague preliminary agreement, and on October 30 they put numbers on it: in 2027 a fleet of driverless Toyota bZ4X vehicles will start testing in Japan, which the companies pitch as the country's first fully autonomous ride-hailing service built on high-volume, locally made cars.

The vehicles will come off Toyota's Takaoka plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. Everything happens under one roof: the base crossover is assembled and Waymo's sensors and computers are fitted right there. This is Level 4 autonomy, meaning no human driver inside the service area.

After Japan, the cars are meant for the UK and other Waymo markets. The logic is simple: both countries drive on the left with right-hand-drive cars, and Waymo has already spent months testing driverless Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in London while it waits for permits to launch a robotaxi service there.

The cabin gets reworked for passengers, with more rear legroom, automatic doors, a power liftgate and ambient lighting. The companies also say they will keep looking at bringing Waymo's tech to privately owned Toyotas, but for now that is just an intention.

Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov pointed out that where the company operates, its cars are up to 20 times less likely than human drivers to be involved in crashes with serious injuries, by Waymo's own numbers. Toyota talks about its "zero accidents" goal and admits it can't get there alone.

For now this is really a supplier deal: Toyota builds the car, Waymo drives it. Still, the world's biggest carmaker assembling robotaxis for Waymo is a sign that driverless cars are no longer an American curiosity.