Lyft Enters Robotaxi Wars, Linking Up with Holon to Take on Uber, Waymo, and Tesla
Never heard of Holon, or Benteler Group? Sure—but you’ve heard of Lyft…Justin BannerWriter
ManufacturerPhotographerJul 25, 2025
The robotaxi wars are upon us. Not long after Uber and Lucid announced a partnership linking the rideshare and EV brands, Lyft has announced it will expand its own autonomous shuttle service working with Holon and its Urban shuttle through Benteler Mobility. It’s all a part of Lyft’s “human-centered” strategy to create a hybrid rideshare network.
AI Quick Summary
Lyft partners with Holon and Benteler Group to expand its autonomous shuttle service, challenging Uber, Waymo, and Tesla. The fleet, featuring Holon’s Urban shuttles, will deploy by 2026, overcoming tariff and regulatory challenges. Existing partnerships aid Lyft’s robotaxi strategy.
This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article.
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Lyft is best known as the rideshare alternative to Uber and the pink mustaches its rideshare drivers attached to their vehicles years ago. (Now it’s gone a bit boring with a light-up display that simply says “Lyft.”) While its fleet has relied on human drivers and regular vehicles since its start in 2012, Lyft has had plans for an autonomous fleet since December 2020, not long after the brand went public in 2019. Lyft had partnerships with several brands—including GM, Ford, and Magna International—but it sold this autonomous vehicle development to Toyota in April 2021 under the Woven Planet Holdings subsidiary (now known as Woven by Toyota). Since then, Lyft had remained a human-only rideshare brand until this partnership announcement with Holon and Benteler.
Don’t feel lost if you’ve never heard of Benteler Group or the Holon Urban autonomous shuttle. Holon was once an internal part of Benteler Group until 2022 when it was spun off as its own autonomous mover brand and began building the Urban, an autonomous shuttle that was designed by Pininfarina. While primarily focused on Germany, Holon has a U.S. presence with a regional headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan and a manufacturing facility under construction in Jacksonville, Florida that is scheduled to come online by 2026.
Benteler Group is also split off into multiple brands that include automotive components, automotive modules including engines and chassis, and steel tube manufacturing among other businesses functions. It’s been a silent partner for many automotive brands throughout its 150-year history. The two most pertinent parts of Benteler to today’s announcement with Lyft are Benteler Mobility and Benteler Trading International with the latter offering fleet financing to pay for the purchasing, upkeep, and repairs of the Holon Urban shuttles that will be deployed. Benteler Mobility will offer its turnkey implementation of autonomous services for the Lyft fleet.
While the partnership plans state the fleet will be deployed by 2026, there will be challenges it will need to get through. First, of course, are the upcoming tariff issues for anything manufactured outside the U.S. While this will be a temporary problem as Holon waits for the Jacksonville plant to open, it will be a significant one as it will add to the cost of the fleet. The second major issue is compliance with local communities and states to operate as a robotaxi service. Lyft is a bit more ahead of this game than most robotaxi startups thanks to its existing collaboration with May Mobility in Atlanta, Georgia, that’s set to come online this year. It also has existing partnerships with Mobileye, Nexar, and Marubeni Corporation in autonomous fleet deployment and management since 2024
