Waymo, the Alphabet subsidiary specializing in autonomous cars, wants to import its taxi robot service in Europe, after its launch in the United States planned for 2018. The general manager John Krafcik said that the group could attack the markets with a partner but did not give a timetable.
“We have the opportunity at Waymo to experiment here in Europe with different products and maybe even different strategies,” he told the Automotive News Europe Congress on Wednesday, June 6, in Turin. “It is possible that we adopt a very different approach to that in the United States.”
Waymo will appeal to Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and Jaguar Land Rover for its fleet of autonomous vehicles in the United States, but Krafcik did not specify whether one of the two manufacturers would be a potential partner for services in Europe.
In Europe “Waymo would not be as strong as some other brands”
The group is scheduled to launch its taxi service in parts of Phoenix, Arizona, in the coming months before deploying it more widely in the United States. In the United States, its service will be called Waymo but this may not be the case in Europe if it is developed with a partner.
“He can safely say that the Waymo brand would not be as strong as some of the other brands that already exist in Europe,” said John Krafcik.
Large technology companies, traditional car manufacturers and well-funded start-ups, including Uber and Tesla, redoubled their efforts to conquer a leading position in the autonomous car market, which should bring the automotive industry into a new era.
With Reuters (Agnieszka Flak, Catherine Mallebay-Vacateur for French Service for French Service)