Lyft and Baidu to bring autonomous taxis to Europe

LONDON: US ride-hailing company Lyft said on Monday it is partnering with Chinese tech firm Baidu to bring self-driving taxis to Europe.

The launch is planned for 2026 in Germany and the United Kingdom, provided the authorities give the green light, Lyft said in a statement.

Over time, the fleet of vehicles is to be expanded to "thousands" of autonomous cars across Europe, it said.

Lyft is currently only available in the United States and in a few Canadian cities, unlike its more international rival Uber.

However, in April, German automotive giants BMW and Mercedes-Benz agreed to sell their joint venture, the taxi app FREENOW, to Lyft for around US$175 million (RM740.2mil).

Baidu has already launched self-driving Apollo Go taxis in several Chinese cities.

Uber is also experimenting with the use of autonomous vehicles made by various developers.