Aurora Innovation Targets 20 Driverless Trucks a Week as DaaS Shift Takes Shape

Aurora Innovation plans to scale production to 20 driverless trucks per week in the fourth quarter, supported by second-generation hardware that cuts costs by more than 50% and is expected to enable production of about 1,500 tractors. The company is shifting from its current transportation-as-a-service model toward driver-as-a-service, where customers own and operate trucks using Aurora’s autonomous-driving system. Aurora expects most of its vehicles to operate under DaaS by the end of 2027. Aurora says it is fully allocated for 2026 and has approximately $1.2 billion in liquidity, while expanding relationships with truck manufacturers including Volvo, PACCAR and International and developing third-generation hardware aimed at automotive-scale production.

Aurora Innovation NASDAQ: AUR is preparing to expand its autonomous-trucking operations through a second-generation hardware rollout, a planned transition toward a driver-as-a-service model and additional manufacturing relationships, Co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson said at the Morgan Stanley Laguna conference. Urmson said Aurora began driverless operations last year and launched its second-generation hardware in April. The newer system is intended to support commercial scaling, with Aurora expecting it to enable production of roughly 1,500 tractors. He said the technology is more reliable and lower-cost than the company’s first-generation hardware and is designed to support Aurora’s unit-economic profitability goals.

Aurora expects to end the current quarter with 20 to 25 trucks in operation and plans to reach a production rate of 20 trucks per week in the fourth quarter, Urmson said. The company is working with Roush in Livonia, Michigan, to upfit International trucks with the Aurora Driver system before delivering vehicles to customers. Urmson said Aurora expects the Roush-supported operation to reach an annualized run rate of about 1,000 units. He also said Volvo has publicly indicated it expects to launch autonomous Volvo VNL trucks in the first quarter of next year and to have more than 300 trucks on the road next year. Urmson said those vehicles would predominantly, if not entirely, be powered by Aurora’s technology.

The company plans to introduce third-generation hardware with supplier AUMOVIO, a Continental spinout, over the course of next year and into 2027. Urmson said the system is intended to support production at automotive scale, potentially reaching tens of thousands of units. Aurora has worked with AUMOVIO for several years on the supply chain, manufacturing and design of the hardware, he said. According to Urmson, Aurora’s second-generation system cuts hardware costs by more than 50% and offers roughly three times the durability of its first-generation equipment. Those improvements are intended to lower amortized costs per mile.

Urmson said Aurora is fully allocated for 2026 and is seeing a faster path from initial discussions to customer contracts. The company works with customers including FedEx, Werner, Hirschbach, Detmar, McLane and Schneider, he said. Aurora has accumulated 6 million total miles, including nearly 500,000 fully driverless miles, according to the conference discussion. Urmson said customer interest has increased as carriers gain more evidence that autonomous trucks can operate in their businesses and see other companies adopting the technology.