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Mesa plant poised to give big boost to Waymo

• By Tribune News Staff
 
• May 11, 2025
 

Waymo and Magna International have teamed up to produce thousands of driveless cars from a Mesa plant.

(Courtesy of Waymo

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Waymo and Magna International are partnering on a Mesa integration plant to produce thousands of autonomous cars.

The 239,000-square-foot facility on Pecos Road “is the epicenter of Waymo’s long-term growth plans,” said Ryan McNamara, Waymo vice president of operations.

Its Waymo Driver system will be integrated into the vehicles that will be built at the Mesa plant.

“Once the system has been validated and is safe for riders, the Waymo Driver can pick up their first public passengers less than 30 minutes after leaving the factory,” a spokeswoman added.

• “Right now, Waymo has over 1,500 Jaguar I-PACEs in service across Waymo One, and through this manufacturing facility, we will add more than 2,000 through next year,” she said. “When at full capacity, it will be capable of producing tens of thousands of vehicles per year.”

• She called the plant “a central component of Waymo’s manufacturing strategy” as its autonomous technology is designed and built in Silicon Valley, then integrated into vehicles at our Mesa plant.

“By establishing this domestic manufacturing infrastructure, we’re helping create hundreds of American jobs while building our autonomous driving technology here in the U.S.,” she added.

 Gov. Katie Hobbs said, “The new Waymo and Magna manufacturing facility in Mesa is the latest example of Arizona being the new home for technology to innovate and grow.”

Waymo One provides over 250,000 paid trips per week across Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, and is preparing to bring its fully autonomous ride-hailing vehicles to Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C., next year,

“The Waymo Driver integration plant in Mesa is the epicenter of our future growth plans,” said Ryan McNamara, Vice President of Operations, Waymo. “With our partners at Magna, we’ve opened a manufacturing site that enables the cost efficiency, flexibility, and capacity to scale our fleet to new heights.”

With the need to build multiple platforms simultaneously and at higher volumes, the plant will introduce an automated assembly line and other efficiencies over time, he added. 

• Waymo’s blog said it had “recently implemented new processes and efficiencies at the end of line that significantly reduce the time and cost required to enable a vehicle to carry riders.
  • “This new strategic capability allows vehicles assigned to our Phoenix fleet to drive themselves out of the facility and directly into service.

“This new manufacturing plant, combined with more efficient vehicle launch processes, means we can serve more riders faster.” 

Forbes

Inside The Waymo Factory Building A Robotaxi Future

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