Lyft and China’s Baidu look to bring robotaxis to Europe next year

Lyft’s European expansion will include Chinese-made robotaxis.

The US riding company announced on Monday that it has made a strategic partnership with Baidu to deploy the autonomous vehicles of the Chinese Technic giant through several European markets. The companies want to launch Robotaxi services in Germany and the United Kingdom in 2026, handling regulatory approval.

If approved, Baidu’s RT6 vehicles, equipped with its self-driving system Apollo Go, will integrate into Lyft’s ride-hacked app. David Risher, Director General of Lyft, said the Robotaxi service is an example of its “hybrid network access, where AVS and human drivers work together to provide customer obsessed options for riders.”

Lyft has historically centered his riding business on the United States, while rival Uber has expanded worldwide and into other areas, such as supply of food. But earlier this year, Lyft bought its way in the European market when it agreed to get the German multiple BMW app Farenow and Mercedes-Benz mobility for about $ 197 million in money.

The acquisition has opened the European market to Lyft, which has been operating only in the United States and Canada since it launched in 2012.

Lyft and Uber, who both sunset their own internal autonomous vehicle programs, are in race to lock partnerships with companies like Baidu that have developed the technology.

Uber partnered with more than 18 companies, covering the spectrum of how self-driving systems can be applied to the physical world, including rideDelivery, and truck. In this year alone, it announced agreements with Ann Arbor, Michigan-based May Mobility and Volkswagenas well as Chinese self-driving firms for a moment, Wrideand Baidu. Last month, Uber invested Hundreds of millions of dollars In EV manufacturer Lucid and Autonomous Vehicle Technology -Equipment only in an attempt to launch its own premium Robotaxi service.

Lyft did not have the same pace of deals as Uber, but did some partnerships last year, including a plan to Add autonomous shuttles performed by Austrian manufacturer Benteler Group to its network at the end of 2026. Lyft also said it is planning to put AVS by May Mobility On its network in Atlanta later this year.