Chery L4 Robotaxi Heads for the UAE: Strategic Agreement with Abu Dhabi’s K2 at the 2026 Chery International User Summit

Chery says it will showcase its purpose-built, factory-integrated Level 4 (L4) Robotaxi and sign a strategic cooperation agreement with UAE-based K2 at the 2026 Chery International User Summit, which opened in Wuhu, China, on 19 October and runs until 23 October 2026. Chery describes the agreement as “an initial step toward international commercial deployment” of its Robotaxi.

The move is part of Chery Group’s wider push into intelligent technology. This year’s Summit brings together more than 2,000 owners, dealers and ecosystem partners from over 130 countries and regions under the theme “ECO-TECH FOR OUR FUTURE LIFE”. Read also: Freelander targets Kuwait in early 2027.

The Details: A Partnership with the UAE’s K2

According to Chery’s release of 17 October 2026, the strategic cooperation agreement with K2 is to be signed at the Summit in Wuhu. The release does not yet disclose the terms, timeline or planned fleet size. K2 is an Abu Dhabi government-owned AI technology company that, as reported by Automotive World in June 2026, had already agreed with Chinese mobility platform CaoCao to test and deploy robotaxis in Abu Dhabi.

Chery first presented the Robotaxi in April and says it plans to expand its Robotaxi operations globally, with development that takes different national regulations into account and validation covering local traffic rules, climate and communications networks.

How the Chery Robotaxi Works

Chery stresses that the vehicle was engineered for driverless L4 operation from the start rather than retrofitted, and that it is integrated into factory production. Riders book through an app, cloud-based dispatch sends a car to the pickup point, and passengers can pre-set the cabin temperature remotely and unlock the doors or open the boot with one tap.

Item	What Chery announced
Autonomy level	Level 4 (L4), no onboard driver
Design	Purpose-built Robotaxi, factory-integrated
Booking and dispatch	App booking with cloud-based dispatch
Daily cycle	Autonomous deployment, repositioning, energy replenishment, self-service cleaning and inspections
Safety framework	Six-part framework incl. full-cabin protection, four-dimensional perception, six-fold redundant execution and cloud-based monitoring
First shown	April (per Chery)

The release gives no technical specifications such as range, battery capacity or passenger capacity. Alongside the Robotaxi, Chery is showing nearly 20 technologies at the Summit, including the CheryMind AI foundation model, Falcon Pilot driver assistance, the megawatt-level Volt-dragon ultra-fast charger, bidirectional V2G charging and AiMOGA robots.

What It Means for Kuwait and the GCC

The UAE is one of the region’s most active markets for autonomous mobility trials, and Chery entering the field through a local partner owned by the Abu Dhabi government shows the group sees the Gulf not only as a car market but also as a stage for future mobility technology. It comes as the group’s brands, such as Omoda and Jaecoo and Jetour, keep growing in the region.

For Kuwait, there is no announcement yet of plans to operate Chery robotaxis, but success in the UAE could open the door to similar services in other Gulf countries in the future. Competition is also building, with other Chinese carmakers such as Geely stepping up the smart technology in their cars.

The official announcement of the K2 agreement’s terms will be the key signal to watch in the coming days, to see when testing or actual operations could begin in the UAE.

Sources: Chery release “Chery Auto to Showcase L4 Robotaxi and Sign Strategic Agreement with UAE-Based K2” via GlobeNewswire (17 October 2026); Chery release “2026 Chery International User Summit Opens” via GlobeNewswire (19 October 2026); Automotive World (26 June 2026) on K2 and CaoCao.