The driverless bZ4X will be built at Toyota's Takaoka plant, with the United Kingdom and other Waymo markets to follow.
Toyota and Waymo announced on 30 October that an autonomous Toyota bZ4X fleet will begin testing and validation in Japan in 2027, with deployment to the United Kingdom and other Waymo markets planned afterwards. Toyota will build the Level 4 vehicles at its Takaoka plant in Aichi Prefecture, integrating Waymo's hardware on the same site.
Toyota and Waymo are putting an autonomous Toyota bZ4X into production for Waymo's ride-hailing service, with a test and validation fleet set to start operating in Japan in 2027. Deployment to the United Kingdom and other markets where Waymo already operates is planned for the years after that.
The two companies announced the next phase of their partnership on 30 October in Tokyo. It builds on a preliminary agreement they made in April 2025.
Built in Aichi
Toyota will assemble the vehicles at its Takaoka plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. The company says everything happens under one roof, from putting together the base car to fitting Waymo's autonomous driving hardware. Toyota describes the programme as a milestone for Japan's first fully autonomous ride-hailing service built around high-volume, domestically made vehicles.
Both firms say the aim is to scale up safety-validated Level 4 autonomous vehicles around the world, combining Toyota's manufacturing and vehicle development experience with Waymo's driverless technology.
What riders get
The bZ4X for Waymo is custom-outfitted, with comfort and accessibility in mind. Toyota lists generous rear legroom, automatic doors, a power liftgate and ambient lighting, all meant to make getting in and out easier for passengers.
- Vehicle: Toyota bZ4X, custom-outfitted for ride-hailing
- Plant: Takaoka, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture
- First operations: testing and validation in Japan, 2027
- Next markets: the United Kingdom and other Waymo-serviced markets, in following years
Safety claims and the wider plan
Dmitri Dolgov, Waymo's co-CEO, said in areas where Waymo operates the company has shown its cars to be up to 20 times safer than human drivers in terms of serious crash injuries. He said Waymo picked Toyota for the reliability, quality and safety record of its vehicles, and that Japan is among the key international markets it wants to reach.
Hiroki Nakajima, a Toyota board member and executive vice president, said safety technology matters most when it reaches as many people as possible. He said the partnership will carry that technology to customers in Japan and beyond through Waymo's ride-hailing service, while Toyota keeps looking at how linking vehicles with traffic infrastructure could make roads safer still. No single company can reach zero traffic accidents alone, he added.
The partnership is not limited to robotaxis. Toyota and Waymo say they will keep exploring autonomous driving technology for personally owned Toyota vehicles. Together with Woven by Toyota, they will also look at further projects aimed at reducing road safety incidents, including how lessons from Waymo's real-world operations and its data could help improve safety for other road users.
