Robotaxis

• US robotaxi fleet passes 6,000 vehicles, 2.5x last year, as Waymo targets 20,000 by 2027
• Tesla reportedly reaches 438,000 weekly in Austin, ahead of Waymo’s 406,000 average
• Tesla reports 2.95 million Texas miles with zero airbag-deploying crashes, while analysts question the proof
• Waymo confirms Madrid for early 2027, though no European driverless ride is bookable yet
• Platform fee rates fell in every AV city studied, with San Francisco dropping from 19.0% to 10.2%
• Waymo’s $5B debt raise and sub $50,000 build costs show capital is the differentiator
• Operating friction persists, from a three-way vehicle standoff to a formal NHTSA accessibility complaint

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Autonomous Trucking and Enablers

• Kodiak signs the first definitive Driver-as-a-Service deal, with DTL Transport deploying 75 driverless trucks
• Wayve holds OEM ties with Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan, with results due from 2028
• Wayve, Stellantis and NVIDIA launch a government-backed French autonomous driving initiative
• Arrive completes its Passport acquisition, linking payments and parking compliance to autonomy
• Zoox negotiates a $500,000 a year Santa Monica staging deal and leases 350,000 square feet in Hayward
• A Munich taxi operator signs a 500-vehicle autonomous taxi deal
• Automated logistics scaling depends more on system ownership than vehicle technology

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Micromobility

• Voi posts €88M net revenue (up 53%) and 53 million rides, then launches in Swansea
• Ryde Technology grows from €10M to €75.5M revenue since 2021 and stays profitable
• Italy’s car sharing consolidates as Zity exits Milan and Enjoy drops free-floating in five cities
• Lisbon gives Bolt, Lime and Bird 60 days to remove e-scooters
• Queensland study finds almost one million privately owned e-mobility devices
• Veo’s Apollo Cargo makes TIME’s Best Inventions, and Sparkpark installs neutral parking in Oslo
• Raleigh rolls out artistic bike and scooter corrals at 70 downtown intersections

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Cities and Policy

• New Zealand’s four road rules shift space toward moving people, and Oxford Street goes traffic free
• New roads and free public transport rarely fix congestion on the evidence
• The average car is parked 95% of the day, making parking a hidden constraint on autonomy
• An SFO rideshare beat transit by 42 minutes at $18.69 more, pointing to feeder connections as automation’s opportunity
• State preemption strips cities of curb power, leaving riders with disabilities exposed at pickup zones
• New Jersey leaders call technology infrastructure, and Helmond demonstrates C-ITS for transit and cyclist safety

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Automotive Suppliers at IZB

• IZB 2026 draws about 40,000 visitors and 858 exhibitors, slightly above 2024, with suppliers staying upbeat despite cost pressure
• Volkswagen reportedly halves its supplier base and bundles over 80% of sourcing into 20 tenders, with negotiations starting February 2027
• Rivals targeting development cycles of 24 months or fewer make digital twins and AI the speed lever for German OEMs
• AI agents already handle research and quote comparison, and token costs raise a new make-or-buy question
• Volkswagen’s Copilot rollout to about 330,000 people extends into Group Intelligence and Catena-X sector data sharing
• Volkswagen’s €5.8bn Q3 loss and Mercedes’ 2-3% margin outlook turn supplier priorities to investment and cash management
• Geopolitics, charging infrastructure and commercial vehicles barely surface, leaving the car as the focus

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Thanks to Keith Mercier, Yuriy Boykiv, Dinesh Jangid, Paul Hermelin, Pedro Pacheco, Missy Cummings, Leo Schwarz, Rajiv Gupta, Roger C. Lanctot, Kelsey Maurine Brickl, Paul Perrone, Philip Koopman, Joe Stam, Brandon Schuh, Brad Templeton, Ben Wild, Timothy Papandreou, Damian Yow, Thomas Reiner, Greg Bessoni, Bern Grush, Frederick A., François Piednoel de Normandie, Adam Kovacevich, Emanuela Minniti, Henriette Cornet, William Riggs, Eirini Zafeiratou, Sergio Diez, Henry Kowal, Jeffrey Matthijs, Russell King, Reena Mahajan, Prasan Firodia, Hamida Al-Ashgar, Michael Wiesinger, Sanzhar Taizhan, Eric Callé, Hannah Dos Santos, Johnathan Teh, Avery Morris, Candice Xie, Dr. Ismail Zohdy, Sean Simon, Andrea Feinstein, Julia Schellnast, Paul Nguyen, John Rossant, Thomas Bråten, Steve Greenfield, Harry Campbell, Brooke Krieger, Sieghart Michielsen, Hans Bjørn Waagø, Robin Tyne, Alvin Foo, Åsa Christiander, Richard Buning, Tal Cohen, Prabin Joel Jones, Ryan Green, Daniel Abreu Marques, Roushan K., Dermot O’Driscoll, Kim Pearson, Chris Bruntlett, Manuel Herzog, Thomas Jäger, Bas van den Heuvel, Nithesh Pushparaj, Rebecca Karbaumer and everyone else who contributed insights to this edition. Find the full list of posts and voices on LinkedIn:

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