{"id":33589,"date":"2026-06-02T19:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T19:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/33589\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T19:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T19:35:11","slug":"robotaxis-set-to-launch-in-madrid-before-the-years-end-economy-and-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/33589\/","title":{"rendered":"Robotaxis set to launch in Madrid before the year\u2019s end | Economy and Business"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">WeRide, one of the leading companies in autonomous\u2011driving technology, along with Uber Technologies and Avomo \u2014 a Moove Cars group company \u2014 announced on Tuesday their plans to launch Spain\u2019s first commercial<a href=\"https:\/\/english.elpais.com\/economy-and-business\/2025-09-29\/no-one-at-the-wheel-the-race-for-the-autonomous-car-intensifies.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/english.elpais.com\/economy-and-business\/2025-09-29\/no-one-at-the-wheel-the-race-for-the-autonomous-car-intensifies.html\"> autonomous\u2011vehicle pilot<\/a> in Madrid before the end of this year. The service would thus make its debut in Europe, as other major players like Alphabet\u2019s Waymo and Tesla expand in cities around the world. Indeed, it will be the first time the companies launch a service together in Europe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/investor.uber.com\/news-events\/news\/press-release-details\/2026\/WeRide-Uber-and-AVOMO-Bring-Robotaxis-to-Madrid\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/investor.uber.com\/news-events\/news\/press-release-details\/2026\/WeRide-Uber-and-AVOMO-Bring-Robotaxis-to-Madrid\/default.aspx\">In a statement released Tuesday<\/a>, the companies said the service is expected to begin operating at the end of the year, in collaboration with the regional government of Madrid, and will allow users to request rides in autonomous vehicles through the Uber app. The fleet will be deployed gradually and, in an initial phase, will include safety operators on board.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">As part of their plans, Uber, WeRide and Avomo expect to add \u201chundreds of Robotaxis as key performance milestones are met, including the expansion of fully driverless commercial service across core urban areas,\u201d according to the joint statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">As an example, the three companies highlight their \u201cproven experience\u201d in the Middle East, where WeRide and Uber operate <a href=\"https:\/\/english.elpais.com\/economy-and-business\/2025-03-30\/the-war-over-the-robotaxis-future-escalates-in-austin-the-silicon-valley-of-texas.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/english.elpais.com\/economy-and-business\/2025-03-30\/the-war-over-the-robotaxis-future-escalates-in-austin-the-silicon-valley-of-texas.html\">commercial robotaxi services<\/a> in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Riyadh is expected to be the next city to join.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The rollout reflects \u201cWeRide\u2019s asset-light operating strategy, enabling robotaxi commercialization through established partners that contribute fleet investment and platform support,\u201d said the statement. As for operations themselves, Avomo, a company in the Moove Cars group and Uber\u2019s partner for autonomous vehicle operations in the United States in Atlanta and Austin, will provide the transport service in <a href=\"https:\/\/english.elpais.com\/spain\/2025-05-10\/where-are-you-headed-madrid.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/english.elpais.com\/spain\/2025-05-10\/where-are-you-headed-madrid.html\">Madrid<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The companies say the Madrid region is one of Europe\u2019s most attractive markets for autonomous vehicles thanks to its high demand for mobility, large urban population and \u201cfavorable policies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">With this launch, WeRide and Uber will jointly operate robotaxis in four of the 15 cities included in their strategic agreement, with 11 more planned through 2030. Under this alliance, the two companies plan to deploy tens of thousands of robotaxis on public roads worldwide.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Powered by the WeRide One technology platform and the WeRide Genesis simulation platform, WeRide says it is confident it can replicate the success achieved in the Middle East to accelerate the rollout of safe, reliable robotaxi services in the Spanish capital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cLaunching driverless Robotaxis in Madrid, one of Europe\u2019s 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\u2019re combining our autonomous driving technology with their mobility platform to accelerate commercialization at scale,\u201d said Dr. Tony Han, founder and CEO of WeRide<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cMadrid represents an important next step in our partnership with WeRide to bring autonomous mobility to more people around the world,\u201d said Sarfraz Maredia, global head of autonomous mobility and delivery at Uber. \u201cWith a clear regulatory path and strong local partners, Madrid is a natural place to become a leading European market for AVs. We\u2019re excited to help shape the future of autonomous mobility in Europe together.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/plus.elpais.com\/newsletters\/lnp\/1\/333\/?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/plus.elpais.com\/newsletters\/lnp\/1\/333\/?lang=en\">our weekly newsletter<\/a> to get more English-language news coverage from EL PA\u00cdS USA Edition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WeRide, one of the leading companies in autonomous\u2011driving technology, along with Uber Technologies and Avomo \u2014 a Moove&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[82,16447,16211],"class_list":["post-33589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-madrid","tag-madrid","tag-tesla-motors","tag-uber"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}