Toyota and Waymo expand autonomous ride-hailing test in Japan with a custom bZ4X fleet

Toyota Motor and Waymo said they are moving to the next phase of their autonomous-driving collaboration, laying out plans for an initial Japan deployment of a fully autonomous Toyota bZ4X fleet beginning in 2027. The companies framed the effort as a step toward safer streets and broader access to transportation, building on a preliminary agreement announced in April 2025.

Under the new timeline, Toyota and Waymo will start “initial operations” to test and validate the autonomous bZ4X fleet in Japan next year, followed by plans to deploy in the United Kingdom and other Waymo-serviced markets in subsequent years. The announcement positions the project as an expansion of Japan’s first fully autonomous ride-hailing service that uses high-volume, domestically manufactured vehicles.

Toyota will manufacture the vehicles at its Takaoka plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, and the companies said the process will take place under one roof. That includes assembling the base vehicle and integrating Waymo’s autonomous vehicle (AV) hardware into the Toyota platform, an approach intended to streamline scaling of the system from production to deployment.

The companies said their pairing of Toyota’s vehicle development and global manufacturing capabilities with Waymo’s fully autonomous technology is designed to accelerate the scaling of safety-validated “Level 4” autonomous vehicles. Level 4 refers to a stage of automation in which the vehicle can perform without a human driver in defined operating conditions, which both companies are presenting as a path to reducing crashes tied to human error.

Toyota and Waymo also highlighted rider-focused modifications for the custom-outfitted bZ4X. They said the vehicle is designed for comfort and greater accessibility, pointing to generous rear legroom and features such as automatic doors, a power liftgate, and ambient lighting intended to make entry and exit simpler for passengers.

In comments accompanying the announcement, Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov said the companies are working toward bringing the safety and convenience of autonomous driving to more people, including in key international markets. He referenced Waymo’s operating results in areas where it runs service, saying it has demonstrated “up to 20x safer” outcomes for serious crash injuries compared with human drivers, and he said Toyota was selected for its safety, reliability, and quality.

Toyota’s leadership echoed the safety rationale and emphasized that the collaboration is only one part of a broader push. Hiroki Nakajima, a member of Toyota’s board of directors and executive vice president, said scaling safety technology depends on reaching as many people as possible, and he added that Toyota is also exploring how integrating vehicles with traffic infrastructure could further improve safety for other road users.

Beyond the autonomous driving hardware and vehicle integration, the announcement tied the effort to Toyota’s wider strategy messaging around “Achieving Zero” and “Beyond Zero,” initiatives the company describes as aiming to reduce negative impacts on people and the environment to zero and to create additional value for society. Toyota also reiterated that it is transforming into a mobility company developing connected, automated, shared, and electrified technologies while continuing to pursue its guiding principles.

The companies did not provide specific milestones for the 2027 trial beyond beginning initial operations, nor did they outline the geographic scope within Japan, the size of the fleet, expected service hours, or performance targets. They also did not detail how quickly they expect to move from testing and validation to wider deployments, leaving key operational details to future updates. For riders and local regulators, the pace of testing, reporting, and readiness for public-facing service will likely be the deciding factors.

What to watch next is whether Toyota and Waymo publish further specifics on the trial’s geography and scale in Japan, any safety and reliability benchmarks used to validate Level 4 operation, and the timetable for expanding beyond Japan into the United Kingdom and other Waymo-serviced markets. For Toyota, the effort also serves as a live proving ground for its production-to-autonomy integration approach, while for Waymo it is an opportunity to translate technology from service pilots into a manufacturing-backed fleet model.