MADRID, June 2 — WeRide (NASDAQ: WRD, HKEX: 0800), a global leader in autonomous driving technology, and Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) today announced plans to launch Spain’s first commercial Robotaxi pilot in the Region of Madrid, marking the companies’ first joint entry into the European market.
The service is expected to begin operations later this year, in collaboration with Madrid’s Regional Government (Comunidad de Madrid), with rides available via the Uber app. The parties expect the fleet to scale progressively and will initially include trained vehicle operators, with WeRide, AVOMO and Uber committed to adding hundreds of Robotaxis as key performance milestones are met, including the expansion of fully driverless commercial service across core urban areas.
This milestone builds on WeRide and Uber’s proven track record in the Middle East, where fully driverless Robotaxi commercial services are already in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with Riyadh expected to follow.
The rollout reflects WeRide’s asset-light operating strategy, enabling Robotaxi commercialization through established partners that contribute fleet investment and platform support. In Madrid the transportation service will be carried out with the support of AVOMO, a Moove Cars Group company, and Uber’s AV fleet operations partner in the United States in both Atlanta and Austin, using WeRide’s autonomous driving technology.
The Region of Madrid represents one of Europe’s most attractive Robotaxi markets, supported by strong mobility demand, a large urban population, and favorable policies. Powered by the WeRide One universal technology platform and WeRide GENESIS general-purpose simulation platform, WeRide expects to efficiently replicate the operational success from its Middle East deployments, enabling a faster rollout of safe and reliable Robotaxi services in Madrid.
This marks the fourth of the 15 cities outlined under WeRide and Uber’s previous agreement, with another 11 cities to come by 2030. Under this partnership, they plan to deploy tens of thousands of Robotaxis on public roads to bring safe and reliable autonomous mobility to riders around the globe.
“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,” said Dr. Tony Han, Founder and CEO of WeRide.
“Madrid represents an important next step in our partnership with WeRide to bring autonomous mobility to more people around the world. With a clear regulatory path and strong local partners, Madrid is a natural place to become a leading European market for AVs. We’re excited to help shape the future of autonomous mobility in Europe together,” said Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility & Delivery at Uber.
“This launch will mark an important milestone in AVOMO’s international expansion which further strengthens our position as a global autonomous mobility operator. After nearly two years of close collaboration with Uber in the United States, we are entering this next phase with a long-term vision and a strong commitment to building efficient, scalable operations across new markets,” said Manuel Puga, CEO of Moove Cars Group.