Abu Dhabi takes the lead in luxury autonomous mobility

The UAE’s drive toward next-generation mobility has taken a major leap forward as Lumo, a national autonomous taxi operator, announced the rollout of a premium robotaxi fleet for Abu Dhabi. 

The vehicles result from a three-way partnership with Mercedes-Benz and Momenta, a global leader in autonomous driving AI.

Built on the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class and powered by Momenta’s Level-4 autonomous driving system, the fleet becomes the world’s first scalable luxury robotaxi model based on a mass-production premium platform. 

Commercial deployment is slated for 2026 in Abu Dhabi, with expansion into international markets to follow.

The collaboration combines Mercedes-Benz’s engineering pedigree, Momenta’s advanced reinforcement-learning AI (its R6 model), and Lumo’s expertise in local fleet operations. Together, the trio aims to position the UAE as a global showcase for high-end autonomous mobility.

Faisal Abdulaziz Mohammed Al Bannai, Advisor to the UAE President for Strategic Research and Advanced Technology Affairs, said the UAE offers “the ideal environment to test, refine, and showcase the future of mobility,” citing its speed of execution and innovation-friendly ecosystem.

Mercedes-Benz CTO Joerg Burzer highlighted that the partnership is “redefining the mobility benchmark” by merging safety, comfort, and high-end automation into a fully autonomous experience.

Momenta CEO Xudong Cao added that the partnership blends “a century of engineering excellence” with cutting-edge AI to deliver a premium, intelligent mobility service.

The launch strengthens Abu Dhabi’s positioning as a global hub for autonomous transport technologies and signals the UAE’s ambition to lead in scalable, AI-driven mobility solutions.