Madrid gives WeRide its first European commercial foothold, built on operational experience in Abu Dhabi and Dubai
WeRide, Uber and Avomo have announced Spain’s first commercial Robotaxi pilot in the Region of Madrid, expected to launch later in 2026 through the Uber app in collaboration with the regional government. The service will initially deploy trained vehicle operators, with a phased expansion toward fully driverless operation planned as performance milestones are reached.
The launch marks the fourth city under WeRide and Uber’s joint expansion agreement, which targets 15 cities and the deployment of tens of thousands of Robotaxis globally by 2030. The two companies already operate fully driverless commercial services in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with Riyadh set to follow.
Under WeRide’s asset-light approach, fleet investment sits with established partners; in Madrid, that role falls to Avomo, a Moove Cars Group company that also serves as Uber’s fleet operations partner in Atlanta and Austin. The region was selected for its strong mobility demand and policy environment, with the service running on WeRide’s One technology platform and GENESIS simulation tools.
In a statement, Dr Tony Han, Founder and Chief Executive of WeRide, said: “Launching driverless Robotaxis in Madrid, one of Europe’s fastest-growing urban environments, demonstrates our ability to operate safely in complex real-world conditions. Spain is our fifth European market entry and further strengthens our position as a trusted Robotaxi operator across the continent. Together with Uber, we’re combining our autonomous driving technology with their mobility platform to accelerate commercialization at scale.”
Why this matters:
Madrid is a test of whether Middle East playbook translates to Europe. WeRide’s commercial driverless operations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai were built on streamlined regulatory pathways and government-backed capital that Europe does not offer. Spain requires safety operators at launch, individual national permitting, and GDPR-compliant data infrastructure that cannot route back to Chinese engineering hubs. The operational model that worked in the Gulf will need meaningful adaptation here.
The geopolitical exposure is underplayed in the announcement. WeRide is a Chinese-founded company deploying sensor-laden vehicles across European cities at a moment when the EU is actively scrutinising Chinese connected vehicle technology on national security grounds. That tension does not prevent the Madrid launch, but it creates a structural vulnerability, particularly around hardware costs and data handling, that competitors without Chinese supply chain dependencies do not face to the same degree.
Uber’s accumulation of AV partners is becoming a story in itself. Madrid marks Uber’s fourth city under its WeRide agreement, with 11 more targeted by 2030. Alongside Waymo in the US, the NVIDIA-Autobrains Munich programme, Wayve in Tokyo and a roster of others, Uber is less a ride-hailing company with AV ambitions than an emerging marketplace that absorbs competing autonomy stacks and routes them to passengers. The strategic question is whether that position is defensible long-term, or whether the AV developers eventually decide to own the consumer relationship themselves.