Waymo and Toyota To Develop Autonomous Cars for Private Ownership

While Waymo’s robotaxis are already on the road in 5 US regions, making 250,000 driverless and paid trips per week, one question has remained unanswered: what about private cars? Will they exist, are they affordable for the average user and who will produce them? Tesla’s intentions to produce such vehicles are well known, but now Waymo and Toyota have issued a preliminary agreement to explore the development of such a car.

Alphabet/Google boss Sundar Pichai already made people sit up and take notice a few days ago when he hinted at this possibility in his quarterly report to investors. The joint statement said, among other things:

Toyota Motor Corporation (“Toyota”) and Waymo reached a preliminary agreement to explore a collaboration focused on accelerating the development and deployment of autonomous driving technologies. Woven by Toyota will also join the potential collaboration as Toyota’s strategic enabler, contributing its strengths in advanced software and mobility innovation. This potential partnership is built on a shared vision of improving road safety and delivering increased mobility for all.

Toyota and Waymo aim to combine their respective strengths to develop a new autonomous vehicle platform. In parallel, the companies will explore how to leverage Waymo’s autonomous technology and Toyota’s vehicle expertise to enhance next-generation personally owned vehicles (POVs). The scope of the collaboration will continue to evolve through ongoing discussions.

An exact date or prices for the first such vehicle has not yet been announced.

This article was also published in German.