WeRide said it hopes to launch fully driverless robotaxi operations with Uber in both Zurich and Madrid by mid-2027.
The Chinese autonomous driving firm announced plans yesterday to launch operations with Uber in Zurich, subject to approval from federal authorities. The expansion news came two weeks after the companies revealed Madrid would be their first joint European market.
Speaking with Zag Daily, WeRide’s Director of Capital Markets and Corporate Development Eric Dong said that fare-charging operations will launch in both cities around December this year with safety drivers behind the wheel.
WeRide then aims to remove safety drivers six months after launch.
“The ultimate goal is always to remove the safety driver from the car. Until that point, you’re not able to expand the fleet size materially because there’s labour costs,” Dong told Zag Daily in an interview at Move 2026.
“We will want safety drivers to leave the vehicle six months within launching the driver and operations. In order for us to reach hundreds or even thousands of vehicles, we will have to reach the driverless stage.”
Commercial operations with safety drivers in Zurich and Madrid are set to launch at roughly the same time but Dong said that the company is targeting Madrid to go live first.
WeRide’s robotaxis are currently being tested in both cities. Dong said more vehicles are being shipped to both markets, with the combined fleet to reach roughly 36 vehicles for the testing period.
In Zurich, fare-charging operations will launch with roughly 12 vehicles this year. Fares are expected to start at prices “comparable to Uber’s regular offering”, according to Dong.
Riders will be able to request an autonomous vehicle on the Uber app, similar to how they can request an UberX or Uber Comfort vehicle.
“The wait time for an autonomous vehicle could be longer because you’re compensating for your interest in testing out the vehicle,” Dong said.
He added that Zurich being a “premium market” contributed to WeRide’s decision to enter the market with Uber, also citing WeRide’s ongoing presence in Zurich and the regulatory environment as drivers behind the move.
“Zurich is a premium market with a very good profile for unit economics,” Dong said.
“The technology itself is more expensive at the moment compared with other mobility solutions so we will need to make sure the unit economics breaks even or becomes profitable in the future. That comes with a higher top line – the revenue that the car is able to collect every day. Those unit prices are typically higher in markets like Zurich.”
Where is WeRide headed next?
WeRide and Uber are currently in agreement to launch robotaxis in 15 cities globally by 2030.
Zurich marks the fifth announced city and second European market under this deal. WeRide and Uber already have services launched in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh.
Dong did not disclose how many of the total 15 markets will be European or whether more cities would be announced this year.
“We don’t have the exact list,” he said. “We’ll determine the cities that we will deploy for next year at the end of this year. Last year, we decided that we will go to Zurich and Madrid.
“Obviously there are other cities in the pipeline. Europe is definitely one of our preferred regions.”
Dong said that the partnership with Uber will continue to focus on Europe and the Middle East as, in other markets like Southeast Asia, the company has partnered with Grab for expansion.