May. 18 at 10:50 AM
$WRD One of the most overlooked aspects of the global AV market may be happening outside the robotaxi narrative. Europe and Japan increasingly look like “bus-first” markets, but not necessarily “robotaxi-first” markets.
Both regions appear to be moving toward autonomous public transport,
fixed-route robobus deployments, airport connectors, concession-based mobility, and municipality-led transit automation.
And importantly, neither market is starting from zero. Much of the groundwork was originally laid by Navya, one of the earliest autonomous shuttle pioneers globally. Before its collapse in 2023, Navya had deployed more than 200 autonomous shuttles across roughly 25 countries, helping establish early autonomous transit corridors throughout Europe and Japan.
While Navya ultimately failed financially, many of the routes, operator relationships and procurement frameworks survived.
That may now create a second-generation replacement cycle. This is where WeRide becomes interesting.
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