Toyota Motor and Alphabet's Waymo announced on Friday that the two companies will begin testing autonomous electric vehicles in Japan starting in 2027, with plans to expand to the UK and other potential markets in the following years.
Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov stated that Waymo will leverage its partnership with Toyota and utilize Toyota's bZ4X model to drive its autonomous driving technology toward large-scale commercial operations.
"We will start with right-hand-drive markets like Japan and the UK first," Dolgov said. "Our vision and strategic partnership aims to expand the business further into other regions, but there are currently no other countries, specific timelines, or details that can be shared."
Toyota Chief Technology Officer Hiroki Nakajima noted that Toyota also produces left-hand-drive models, including the bZ4X, and hopes to accumulate experience in Japan first before pursuing broader development opportunities.
Toyota will manufacture these vehicles at its Takaoka plant in central Japan, where Waymo's autonomous driving hardware will also be installed.
Dolgov said Waymo is currently testing the Jaguar I-PACE model in Japan and still plans to use that vehicle for a pilot program in 2027.
Neither company disclosed how many bZ4X vehicles will be deployed initially, nor which specific regions in Japan these vehicles will operate in. Nakajima indicated that the initial operation will involve a relatively small number of vehicles.
Toyota and Waymo had previously announced in April 2025 that they would explore collaboration on developing a new autonomous vehicle platform.
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