Chinese tech giant, Baidu, will debut its autonomous ride-hailing venture, Apollo Go, in Europe by setting up a local operation in Switzerland and beginning tests by the end of 2025. Turkey also appears on Baidu’s expansion road map, which indicates the aggressive expansion of the company outside its dominant domestic market.

Strong home operations serve as a strong foundation

Apollo Go is currently deployed in more than a dozen Chinese cities and is the leader in Wuhan where Baidu now runs China’s largest Robotaxi fleet with more than 400 vehicles. This vast experience is what drives Baidu’s preparedness to expand globally after successful pilot releases in Dubai and Hong Kong.

While Baidu discusses its Robotaxi service with the PostAuto bus service of the Swiss Post, Swiss Post has clarified that there is as yet no formal partnership agreement in place. The European regulatory landscape is still conservative, with governments moving toward harmonized standards for Level 4 autonomous vehicles by 2026, which will be challenges and opportunities for Baidu.

The autonomous mobility market in Europe is set for expansion

The share of Europe’s EV sales skyrocketed to 15.2% of new cars purchased in Q1 2025, but autonomous ride-hailing is just coming around. Baidu and the competition have a positive scenario to leverage these trends, especially in China, wherewith a strong government policy and technology advancements, the autonomous and robotaxi market is expected to grow to billions of yuan by 2030 in the country.  

Baidu’s expansion is keeping pace with the moves of the competition WeRide and Pony.ai, who are also focusing on Europe and the Middle East. Pony.ai obtained testing permits in Luxembourg not long ago and is set to deploy Robotaxi on Uber’s platform in the Middle East. At the same time, WeRide spearheads pilot projects in Switzerland, exacerbating the competitive background.

Future perspective and main success factors

Baidu Europe’s success will require regulatory approvals, adjustments to heterogeneous traffic situations and strategic local partnerships to mitigate issues regarding operations and tariffs. By capitalizing on its state-of-the-art data analytics, integration with Baidu Maps, and affordable technology, the company is in a good position to compete against industry stalwarts such as Waymo and Tesla. Baidu’s expansion into Europe and Turkey is a critical milestone in its efforts to become a global leader in autonomous mobility space. In the face of regulatory and competition challenges, its formidable technological foundation and overseas expertise could open meaningful value and remake urban transportation environments globally over the next decade.