Amazon's Zoox To Expand Robotaxi Production With New Facility: Report

Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company Zoox is set to significantly increase its production capacity next year as it prepares for the commercial deployment of its robotaxi fleet across the US, according to a Financial Times report, as quoted by Reuters.

New Manufacturing Location

The company will establish a new manufacturing location in California's Bay Area, expanding beyond its current limited production facility in Fremont, Zoox co-founder Jesse Levinson revealed to the Financial Times.

"We're getting ready to make hundreds and then thousands" of custom-built robotaxis at the new site, Levinson told FT.

Phased Deployment Strategy

The autonomous vehicle startup has thus far deployed around two dozen purpose-built test vehicles across six American cities. According to Levinson, Zoox intends to launch its first public ride service in Las Vegas later this year, with San Francisco following as its second market.

Regulatory Environment 

The production expansion comes as President Donald Trump's administration recently announced initiatives to accelerate self-driving vehicle deployment by exempting certain vehicles from specific safety requirements and relaxing rules mandating safety incident reporting.

Competition Intensifies 

Zoox faces significant competition in the robotaxi marketplace, with various manufacturers including Tesla and Google-parent Alphabet's Waymo actively developing autonomous vehicle technology. U.S. auto regulators have previously launched investigations into self-driving vehicles operated by GM's Cruise division, Waymo, and Zoox.