Spain issues its first national Level 4 permit to WeRide, Uber and AVOMO

Spain issues its first national Level 4 permit to WeRide, Uber and AVOMO

10 September 2026: Spain's Directorate General of Traffic has issued the country's first national permit for Level 4 passenger vehicles on public roads, and it went to WeRide, Uber and AVOMO. The permit covers testing of WeRide GXR robotaxis around Madrid, and the companies expect commercial operations to begin before the end of 2026.

Not yet independently verified. WeRide's own pages give different footprints: 60+ cities in 13 countries in this release, but 40 cities in 12 countries in its releases of 3 August and 17 June. The figures here are as of the dated release. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

What the permit allows

The permit was issued by the Directorate General of Traffic, known as the DGT, under the ES-AV framework, and the Regional Government of Madrid collaborated on it. The companies describe it as the first national approval for the GXR in the EU. It allows mapping, route validation and operational-readiness testing, and it starts the mapping of the Madrid region.

The initial fleet will be 20 vehicles, each with an in-car vehicle specialist, working across high-demand parts of Greater Madrid. Commercial operations are expected by the end of 2026, pending deployment preparations and further operational and regulatory milestones. It is the first planned autonomous deployment by Uber and WeRide in Europe.

Three holders, three roles

WeRide supplies the vehicle and the driving system, the GXR robotaxi, on its WeRide One platform. Uber provides the platform through which riders will book. The third holder is AVOMO, the autonomous vehicle operations company of Moove Cars Group, which handles fleet operations. The release says AVOMO manages about 400 autonomous vehicles in Austin and Atlanta with a team of more than 200 specialists.

Manuel Puga, chief executive of Moove Cars Group, said: "Every successful autonomous vehicle deployment begins long before the first commercial ride." The companies call the model asset-light: WeRide's technology, Uber's mobility platform and AVOMO's fleet operations.

From the June announcement to the permit

The Madrid plan was first announced on 2 June, when WeRide and Uber said they would run Spain's first commercial robotaxi pilot in the Region of Madrid, with rides booked through the Uber app. The fleet would begin with trained vehicle operators, with hundreds more robotaxis planned as performance milestones are met, leading to fully driverless commercial service in core urban areas. Spain was WeRide's fifth European market entry.

Madrid in a larger plan

Madrid is the fourth of 15 cities in the WeRide-Uber plan, which calls for 11 more by 2030, and the partners say they plan to deploy tens of thousands of robotaxis on public roads globally. The June release notes that fully driverless robotaxi services already operate in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with Riyadh expected next. For WeRide, the Madrid permit is the ninth autonomous driving permit worldwide. Jennifer Li, its chief financial officer and head of international, said the company is "one step closer to bringing autonomous mobility to Spain before the end of 2026".

The rest of WeRide's European projects

On 17 June WeRide and Uber announced a second joint European deployment, in Greater Zurich. It names Switzerland's Federal Roads Office as the regulator and Rydera as the local fleet operator. WeRide's robotaxi received a driverless permit from that office last November for the Furttal region.

In Slovakia, WeRide met Prime Minister Robert Fico on 10 June, and says its first vehicles were due to arrive that month for testing in Bratislava, then Košice and the High Tatras region. In France its robobus has operated at Roland-Garros for three consecutive years, and in Belgium a robobus is in regular commercial service in Leuven.

WeRide's own scale

As of the 10 September release, WeRide says it operates in more than 60 cities across 13 countries. It is listed on Nasdaq as WRD and in Hong Kong as 0800, and builds robotaxis, robobuses and robotrucks.

Related on TrustList:

• Pony.ai says Doha robotaxi pilot passed the ministry's review
• Pony.ai and Verne begin driverless test rides on Zagreb's airport route
• Wayve wins TfL licences and starts carrying London's Uber riders

Sources

• WeRide: WeRide, Uber and AVOMO receive Spain's first national Level 4 permit (Madrid), 10 September 2026
• WeRide: WeRide, Uber and AVOMO bring robotaxis to Madrid, 2 June 2026
• WeRide: WeRide and Uber plan robotaxi service in Zurich, 17 June 2026
• WeRide: Slovak Prime Minister meets WeRide, 10 June 2026