Chinese autonomous driving technology company WeRide and Uber plan to launch Spain’s first commercial robotaxi pilot in Madrid, marking the companies’ initial 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 plans to add hundreds of robotaxis.

This milestone builds on WeRide and Uber’s 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 commercialisation through established partners that contribute fleet investment and platform support. In Madrid the transportation service will be carried out with the support of Avomo (avomo.com), a Moove Cars Group company and Uber’s AV fleet operations partner Atlanta and Austin, USA, using WeRide’s autonomous driving technology.

Madrid is one of Europe’s most attractive robotaxi markets, supported by strong mobility demand, a large urban population and favourable policies. Powered by the WeRide One universal technology platform and Genesis general-purpose simulation platform, WeRide expects to 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 said Tony Han, CEO of WeRide (www.weride.ai). “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 commercialisation at scale,”.

Sarfraz Maredia from Uber (www.uber.com) added: “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.”

WeRide’s autonomous vehicles have been deployed in 40 cities across 12 countries. It has received autonomous driving permits in China, UAE, Singapore, France, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Belgium and the USA.