Waymo's latest partnership hints at major expansion

Waymo is one of the biggest players in the self-driving development race, but it's not equipped to service its rapidly growing number of driverless vehicles. As the Google spinoff increases operations beyond its limited pilot programs in California, Arizona, and Michigan, it'll need some help maintaining its fleet of autonomous vehicles.

Today, the driverless car company announced a multi-year service agreement with national automotive retailer AutoNation, which will provide maintenance and repair support to extend Waymo's vehicle lifecycles.

AutoNation will initially be tasked with servicing Waymo's Chrysler Pacifica minivans, but the agreement clearly states that the companies expect the fleet to grow. More automotive partners could add Waymo's platform to their vehicles, and AutoNation's new and used car dealerships across the U.S. will make expansion an even easier process for Waymo.

This type of deal is strictly concerned with Waymo's growth. AutoNation can't offer much in terms of self-driving tech or fleet deployment logistics, like some of Waymo's other partners like Intel and Lyft — but the retailer can provide a wide service base. Since the fleet won't likely be owned or operated by customers (and it doesn't appear that AutoNation will actually sell any of Waymo's driverless cars to the public), the vehicles will need a more generalized service provider on the national level when its vehicles begin arriving in different regions.

The AutoNation partnership is similar to Waymo's deal with auto rental company Avis. That agreement also gives Waymo a service partner with a national footprint, but that's not all. Avis will help with fleet management, and the rental car company will be tasked with housing the autonomous vehicles while they're not out on the road.

These partnerships can give us a better idea of what Waymo plans for the future. The company has made it clear that it isn't interested in actually building its own cars, at least for now. Its main concern is still the self-driving platform. That singular focus will continue to influence other aspects of deploying the self-driving vehicles as the platform matures — which is where Avis and AutoNation come in.

The partnerships give Waymo the chance to stay nimble within the self-driving space, in which it has arguably the most advanced platform currently on the road. By partnering with other more traditional automotive companies, Waymo is well-positioned to be among the first companies with a wide network of self-driving cars across the US.