Baidu has taken a major step toward entering Europe’s autonomous mobility market after its Apollo Go robotaxi unit secured a special Level 4 autonomous driving operating permit in Switzerland. The AmiGo vehicle co-developed by Apollo Go and PostBus The permit covers AmiGo, a mobility platform jointly developed by Apollo Go and Swiss state-owned bus operator PostBus. The project will begin public-road testing across parts of St. Gallen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, covering roughly 80 square kilometers. Initial operations will include onboard safety operators. The rollout will then progress through closed-user pilot programs, fully driverless testing, public-facing commercial services. Full operations are targeted for 2027. The fleet will use Baidu’s sixth-generation robotaxi, the RT6. Built on a dedicated EV platform, the vehicle carries more than 30 sensors, seats three passengers, features a detachable steering wheel designed for future fully driverless deployment. Apollo Go vehicles in China The Swiss launch rests on years of large-scale real-world operations. As of May 2026, Apollo Go operated in 27 cities worldwide. Its autonomous fleet had accumulated more than 330M kilometers of driving mileage, including over 220M kilometers completed without human drivers. During the first quarter of 2026, Apollo Go completed 3.2M fully driverless trips. Weekly ride volume peaked above 350K trips in March. Total rides grew more than 120% year-on-year. Cumulative public rides surpassed 22M by April 2026. The Swiss project also highlights a different expansion strategy from many global robotaxi operators. Rather than entering Europe as a standalone ride-hailing company, Baidu chose to integrate directly into Switzerland’s public transportation system. PostBus, a subsidiary of Swiss Post, operates one of the country’s largest transit networks. The company served more than 180M passengers in 2025, running 942 routes across most towns and rural regions nationwide. PostBus vehicles in Switzerland AmiGo is not positioned as a conventional ride-hailing platform. Instead, the service will focus on mountainous regions, rural communities, areas underserved by existing bus networks. The goal is to provide supplemental mobility capacity rather than compete with established transit services. That approach significantly lowers Baidu’s entry barriers. PostBus brings established regulatory relationships, operating expertise, public-sector experience. Baidu gains immediate access to existing transport infrastructure without building dispatch systems, operating hubs, support networks from scratch. More importantly, positioning robotaxis as an extension of public transportation may help avoid some of the political and industry resistance faced by commercial robotaxi projects elsewhere. The model could offer a new route toward large-scale autonomous mobility deployment in Europe.
