Nearly 20 Automakers Enter Humanoid Robot Race, BYD to Unveil Prototype in August

Automakers' crossover into humanoid robots is accelerating. BYD confirmed it will officially unveil a humanoid robot in August at its 'Di Space' venue, marking the first time the company will publicly display a physical prototype under its own brand. XPeng's humanoid robot IRON has begun small-batch trial production at its Guangzhou factory, with the mass production line entering the final commissioning stage. Li Auto has planned two robot products, a wheeled model and a bipedal model, with the wheeled robot scheduled for public release within the year.

BYD's timeline for entering the humanoid robot space dates back to 2022, when the company established an embodied intelligence research team. In May this year, BYD Executive Vice President Li Ke said in an interview that the company hopes robots will handle standardized tasks such as multi-language vehicle explanations, in-car system demonstrations, and customer interaction at dealerships. In early June, online rumors circulated that BYD's self-developed humanoid robot was codenamed 'Yao Shun Yu' and that the company planned to deploy 20,000 units internally within the year. BYD denied those specific claims but confirmed the fact of its self-developed humanoid robot. On July 25, the 'Di Space' WeChat public account published a humanoid robot poster saying, 'In early August, a new friend wants to meet you.' On July 28, BYD confirmed its plan to unveil the humanoid robot at 'Di Space' in August. Li Ke said the core of robot competition lies in manufacturing capability, software capability, and hardware capability, and that automotive-related capabilities are homologous with robotics. BYD can both self-develop and cooperate with other companies.

XPeng unveiled the first-generation humanoid robot IRON at its 2025 Tech Day, and in June this year He Xiaopeng personally took on the role of CEO of the robot business. According to the plan, XPeng aims to achieve mass production of IRON by the end of 2026, with a monthly production target of over 1,000 units by year-end, initially deploying the robots in stores for commercial use. In the first quarter of 2027, the robots will enter nationwide offline stores, and in the second quarter they will be introduced overseas. By 2028, the robots will reach more households. IRON stands 178 cm tall, is equipped with the Turing AI chip and a self-developed physical world large model, and is currently performing tasks such as sorting, handling, and quality inspection at the Guangzhou factory. XPeng also announced that Baosteel has become an ecological partner for the IRON project, and future applications in complex industrial areas such as inspection will be explored.

Li Auto has planned two robot products: a wheeled robot and a bipedal robot. The wheeled robot is mainly designed for factory scenarios and is scheduled for public release within the year. In terms of organizational structure, Li Auto reorganized its intelligentization department in February 2026, forming three teams: humanoid robots, software ontology, and foundation models. The humanoid robot project is codenamed 'Nexus'.

To date, nearly 20 major automakers globally, including Tesla, BYD, XPeng, GAC, Chery, Changan, Xiaomi, Li Auto, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Hyundai, have entered the humanoid robot track through self-development, investment, or incubation. Among domestic traditional automakers, GAC Group released the fourth-generation humanoid robot GoMate Mini in February 2026; Changan Automobile invested 450 million yuan to establish 'Changan Tianshu Intelligent Robot Technology Co. , Ltd.' ; Chery launched the 'Moja' robot brand. SAIC Group's embodied intelligent robot 'Nengzai 1' has been put into mass production lines, Geely has entered the field through capital-led investment, and Leapmotor has also ventured into the area.

Among overseas automakers, Tesla's Optimus third-generation robot began mass production in the second quarter of 2026. Elon Musk confirmed that production will start at the Fremont factory in California in late July or August, and the final planned annual production capacity of the dedicated Optimus factory at the Texas Gigafactory is 1 million units. Hyundai Motor is deploying through its subsidiary Boston Dynamics, with the Atlas humanoid robot planned to be put into use at Hyundai factories from 2028. Starting this summer, BMW will deploy the humanoid robot Aeon, developed by Hexagon Robotics, at its Leipzig plant in Germany.

The technology overlap between smart cars and humanoid robots exceeds 70%. The core hardware of humanoid robots, such as joint actuation, energy supply, and perception control, is highly interchangeable with key components of smart cars. Perception hardware such as lidar, cameras, and millimeter-wave radar can be almost seamlessly transplanted. Algorithms for environmental perception, path planning, and real-time decision-making are also highly shared. At the supply chain level, motors, gear systems, screws, bearings, batteries, and sensors are all key components shared by electric vehicles and robots. Automotive factories themselves are the first deployment environments for humanoid robots, where tasks such as handling, assembly, quality inspection, and inspection are among the first to be replaced by humanoid robots. In 2025, China's auto industry profit margin fell to 4.1%, the lowest since 2015.

Robots' requirements for actuator precision and tactile sensors in dexterous hands far exceed automotive-grade standards, resulting in high initial unit costs. Robotic arms are already capable of handling almost all large-scale mass production scenarios in manufacturing, and the remaining tasks that cannot be replaced by automation are either extremely difficult to substitute or involve a limited number of workers that can be replaced. In highly structured factory environments, robots capable of performing specific tasks already have practical value.