Toyota to Build Waymo Robotaxis, VW China Tests Level 3 in Hefei

Toyota has agreed to assemble Waymo robotaxis at its Takaoka plant in Japan, one of several AI developments bundled into this week’s automotive industry roundup. The same batch of news covers Volkswagen Group China’s new permit to trial Level 3 autonomous driving on public roads in Hefei, plus Mazda pushing Google’s Gemini assistant into the CX-5 in Europe. The connecting thread: automakers are now shipping or testing AI systems at real scale, not in lab conditions.

Toyota Takes On Waymo Production

The Takaoka assignment is the headline item. Building robotaxis for Waymo means Toyota is moving from research partnerships into manufacturing execution — a different kind of commitment entirely.

Production details — volumes, timing, vehicle platform — were not disclosed in the roundup. What matters is the direction: a legacy Japanese manufacturer putting assembly capacity behind another company’s autonomous driving stack.

London’s Driverless Ambitions

Freenow, the ride-hailing app owned by Lyft, is working with Baidu’s Apollo Go on a commercial driverless service targeting London in 2027. That date gives roughly a year of runway for regulatory approval, mapping and fleet preparation.

Baidu has been running Apollo Go operations in Chinese cities for some time. London would be a far tougher environment — narrow streets, complex junctions, and a regulator that has not yet signed off on commercial robotaxi service at scale.

VW China’s Level 3 Permit

Volkswagen Group China secured approval to trial Level 3 autonomous driving on public roads in Hefei. Level 3 is the awkward middle ground: the car drives, but the human must be ready to take over when prompted.

The AI roundup at a glance: Toyota builds Waymo robotaxis at Takaoka · Freenow and Apollo Go target London driverless service in 2027 · Mazda adds Gemini to the CX-5 in Europe · VW Group China tests Level 3 in Hefei

Mazda Puts Gemini in the CX-5

The most consumer-facing item is Mazda’s move to roll out Google’s Gemini AI assistant to the new CX-5 in Europe through an over-the-air update. No dealer visit, no hardware swap — the car gets smarter while parked in a driveway.

That delivery model is becoming standard, and it reframes what buyers should expect from a vehicle years after purchase.

What This Week Actually Signals

Four items, four different layers of the stack:

• Manufacturing: Toyota building another company’s robotaxis
• Mobility services: Freenow and Apollo Go chasing a 2027 London launch
• Regulation: VW China clearing a Level 3 public-road trial
• Consumer software: Mazda’s over-the-air Gemini rollout

The common factor is that none of these are concept-stage announcements. Each involves permits, production lines, launch dates or live software updates.

Whether any of it lands on schedule is another question. Autonomous programmes have a long history of slipping, and 2027 is close enough that the London plan will be tested soon enough.