BYD named Uber's top OEM partner

Uber and BYD announced on July 31, 2024 a multi-year partnership to place 100,000 new BYD electric vehicles on the Uber platform across key global markets. Uber said the rollout would start in Europe and Latin America and later expand to the Middle East, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with pricing and financing offers for drivers. The claim circulating on X on Sept. 2 that BYD is Uber’s “top OEM partner” lines up with the scale and breadth of that agreement, but Uber has not used that specific ranking language in the official materials reviewed. What Uber has said publicly is that BYD is part of a broad automaker network that now also includes Volkswagen, Stellantis, Rivian and others across EV and autonomous-vehicle programs. (investor.uber.com) ### How large is the BYD-Uber deal, exactly? Uber’s investor release put the BYD arrangement at 100,000 vehicles, making it one of the clearest volume commitments in the company’s EV push. The companies said the deal was designed to lower the cost of EV adoption for drivers through financing and pricing support, and they also agreed to collaborate on future BYD autonomous-capable vehicles for Uber’s platform. (investor.uber.com) BYD said the first phase would focus on Europe and Latin America. Uber’s release added Canada, Australia and New Zealand to the later expansion list, while BYD’s own release also described a broader multi-market rollout. ### Where do Volkswagen and Stellantis fit in Uber’s lineup? Volkswagen’s tie-up with Uber is centered on autonomous ID. Buzz vehicles in the United States. Uber and Volkswagen Group of America said in 2025 they planned to deploy thousands of all-electric, fully autonomous ID. (investor.uber.com) Buzz AD vehicles over the next decade, starting in Los Angeles, and Uber said in April 2026 that on-road validation testing had begun with rides planned for late 2026. (byd.com) Stellantis has multiple links to Uber. Uber said in October 2025 that Stellantis would be among the first OEMs supplying Level 4 vehicles under an NVIDIA-backed autonomous fleet effort, with 5,000 vehicles referenced in that announcement. Stellantis, Wayve and Uber then said on June 17, 2026 that they would jointly explore Level 4 robotaxi deployment at global scale. Separate Uber driver-offer pages in Europe also show Stellantis-branded EV purchase discounts for drivers. (investor.uber.com) ### Does this say anything about Uber’s broader strategy? Uber said in March 2026 that it launched Uber Autonomous Solutions, a package of services meant to help partners commercialize autonomous vehicles in multiple markets. Its investor site now lists a series of automaker and AV partnerships, including BYD for EV supply, Volkswagen for autonomous ID. Buzz deployment, Stellantis for robotaxi development, and Rivian for up to 50,000 fully autonomous robotaxis. (investor.uber.com) Uber also said in October 2025 that it had more than 200,000 EV drivers globally on the platform, with drivers in the United States, Canada and Europe going electric up to five times faster than the average motorist in those markets. ### What about the Tesla comments that circulated with the post? Tesla was not part of the official Uber-BYD, Volkswagen or Stellantis announcements reviewed. (investor.uber.com) The additional Sept. 2 X posts about Tesla’s software edge and a Toyota salesperson calling Tesla an “EV credit swap company” appear to be social-media commentary rather than statements from Uber, BYD, Volkswagen or Stellantis. No matching official company release making those claims was found in the sources reviewed. (uber.com) ### What comes next in the named programs? Los Angeles is the next concrete milestone in Uber’s Volkswagen program, with rides on the Uber platform planned for late 2026 after testing that began this year. Uber’s Rivian agreement points to initial commercial deployments in San Francisco and Miami in 2028, while the BYD agreement remains the largest named non-autonomous EV supply partnership in the documents reviewed. (investor.uber.com 1) (investor.uber.com 2)