What BYD's Humanoid Robot Will Do in Stores

BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li (Li Ke) laid out the commercial blueprint in a June interview with Business Insider:

• "My goal is to bring two or three robots to every single store," Li said . She estimated this could become reality within one to two years .
• The robots will handle standardized tasks: multilingual vehicle explanations, in-car system demonstrations, greeting visitors, answering basic questions, and interactive customer engagement .
• Li called humanoid robots designed for homes and the service industry a potentially significant future business for BYD .

Importantly, Li has said these robots are not meant to replace human sales staff — the emotional connection with customers remains indispensable . Instead, BYD plans to use robots to improve service quality through collaboration with human employees.

BYD's Broader Robotics Strategy

BYD established a dedicated humanoid robotics laboratory in late 2024 . The company is pursuing a dual-path strategy: developing its own in-house humanoid while also investing in external robotics developers and testing robots from Unitree and UBTech in its factories . Key elements include:

• Its own EV and battery production facilities will serve as the initial real-world deployment environment before broader commercial rollout .
• Initial deployment focus is on dealerships and customer-facing roles, not heavy industrial labor.
• BYD's existing supply chain and manufacturing scale are expected to give it cost advantages in robot production.

How BYD Is Already Using Third-Party Humanoids (UBTech Walker S Series)

BYD has been a key partner for UBTech's Walker S series of industrial humanoid robots:

• The Walker S1 conducted practical training at a BYD factory for transport tasks, working in coordination with unmanned logistics vehicles, forklifts, industrial mobile robots, and smart manufacturing execution systems . A report from EyeShenzhen shows the Walker S1 working in BYD's factory in Changsha, Hunan Province .
• The newer Walker S2 units are already operating on factory floors at BYD, Geely, FAW-Volkswagen, Dongfeng, Audi FAW, BAIC, Foxconn, and SF Express . These are performing actual material movement shifts, not just demos .
• UBTech confirmed its robots have been tested at BYD factories for the last 20 months in real-world environments across three evaluation stages .
• UBTech has delivered more than 1,000 units and secured contracts worth over 800 million yuan, with a target of producing 5,000 industrial humanoids annually .

How BYD Compares to Other Automakers in Humanoid Robots

Tesla — Optimus

• Tesla is shutting down its Fremont Model S/X production line and converting it to Optimus manufacturing .
• Optimus Gen 3 is targeting low-volume production in mid-to-late 2026, with enterprise customer deliveries expected in H2 2026 .
• However, Elon Musk admitted on Tesla's Q4 2025 earnings call (January 2026) that no Optimus units are currently doing useful work in Tesla's factories — they are primarily for learning and data collection .
• Giga Texas dedicated Optimus facility is under construction, with first production lines targeted for 2027 .
• Tesla has not yet announced a specific customer-facing deployment plan comparable to BYD's store strategy.

XPeng — IRON

• XPeng's IRON humanoid robot has already commenced small-scale trial production at XPeng's Guangzhou plant, with the mass-production line in its final integration and commissioning phase .
• XPeng is among the most advanced Chinese EV makers in humanoid commercialization, alongside BYD.
• The company is targeting factory floor deployment initially, similar to BYD's industrial testing strategy .

Hyundai — via Boston Dynamics (Atlas)

• Hyundai owns Boston Dynamics and has been retooling the fully electric Atlas humanoid for factory and logistics applications.
• Boston Dynamics has demonstrated Atlas performing autonomous sorting and part manipulation tasks in Hyundai's automotive manufacturing facilities.
• Hyundai's approach emphasizes industrial-grade mobility and manipulation rather than customer-facing roles, contrasting with BYD's store-deployment strategy.

Other Chinese Automakers

• Chery has its Aimoga humanoid robot.
• SAIC-GM and Li Auto are also pursuing humanoid programs, with Li Auto reportedly adopting a dual-track strategy .
• BYD, XPeng, and Li Auto represent the core Chinese EV brigade entering the humanoid race .

The Bottom Line

BYD is the first major automaker to commit to a customer-facing humanoid deployment in dealerships within 1–2 years, starting with the physical prototype debut this August. While Tesla leads in hype and long-term production ambition, BYD is moving faster on a concrete retail use case. XPeng is closest in production readiness among Chinese rivals, and Hyundai is leveraging Boston Dynamics' advanced mobility for industrial tasks.

The humanoid robot race among automakers is no longer theoretical — BYD, Tesla, XPeng, and Hyundai all have working prototypes, factory testing programs, and commercial timelines. BYD's strategy of combining in-house development with third-party testing, and targeting customer-facing retail roles, sets it apart from the more industrial-focused approaches of its competitors.

What BYD's Humanoid Robot Will Do in Stores

BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li (Li Ke) laid out the commercial blueprint in a June interview with Business Insider:

• "My goal is to bring two or three robots to every single store," Li said . She estimated this could become reality within one to two years .
• The robots will handle standardized tasks: multilingual vehicle explanations, in-car system demonstrations, greeting visitors, answering basic questions, and interactive customer engagement .
• Li called humanoid robots designed for homes and the service industry a potentially significant future business for BYD .

Importantly, Li has said these robots are not meant to replace human sales staff — the emotional connection with customers remains indispensable . Instead, BYD plans to use robots to improve service quality through collaboration with human employees.

BYD's Broader Robotics Strategy

BYD established a dedicated humanoid robotics laboratory in late 2024 . The company is pursuing a dual-path strategy: developing its own in-house humanoid while also investing in external robotics developers and testing robots from Unitree and UBTech in its factories . Key elements include:

• Its own EV and battery production facilities will serve as the initial real-world deployment environment before broader commercial rollout .
• Initial deployment focus is on dealerships and customer-facing roles, not heavy industrial labor.
• BYD's existing supply chain and manufacturing scale are expected to give it cost advantages in robot production.

How BYD Is Already Using Third-Party Humanoids (UBTech Walker S Series)

BYD has been a key partner for UBTech's Walker S series of industrial humanoid robots:

• The Walker S1 conducted practical training at a BYD factory for transport tasks, working in coordination with unmanned logistics vehicles, forklifts, industrial mobile robots, and smart manufacturing execution systems . A report from EyeShenzhen shows the Walker S1 working in BYD's factory in Changsha, Hunan Province .
• The newer Walker S2 units are already operating on factory floors at BYD, Geely, FAW-Volkswagen, Dongfeng, Audi FAW, BAIC, Foxconn, and SF Express . These are performing actual material movement shifts, not just demos .
• UBTech confirmed its robots have been tested at BYD factories for the last 20 months in real-world environments across three evaluation stages .
• UBTech has delivered more than 1,000 units and secured contracts worth over 800 million yuan, with a target of producing 5,000 industrial humanoids annually .

How BYD Compares to Other Automakers in Humanoid Robots

Tesla — Optimus

• Tesla is shutting down its Fremont Model S/X production line and converting it to Optimus manufacturing .
• Optimus Gen 3 is targeting low-volume production in mid-to-late 2026, with enterprise customer deliveries expected in H2 2026 .
• However, Elon Musk admitted on Tesla's Q4 2025 earnings call (January 2026) that no Optimus units are currently doing useful work in Tesla's factories — they are primarily for learning and data collection .
• Giga Texas dedicated Optimus facility is under construction, with first production lines targeted for 2027 .
• Tesla has not yet announced a specific customer-facing deployment plan comparable to BYD's store strategy.

XPeng — IRON

• XPeng's IRON humanoid robot has already commenced small-scale trial production at XPeng's Guangzhou plant, with the mass-production line in its final integration and commissioning phase .
• XPeng is among the most advanced Chinese EV makers in humanoid commercialization, alongside BYD.
• The company is targeting factory floor deployment initially, similar to BYD's industrial testing strategy .

Hyundai — via Boston Dynamics (Atlas)

• Hyundai owns Boston Dynamics and has been retooling the fully electric Atlas humanoid for factory and logistics applications.
• Boston Dynamics has demonstrated Atlas performing autonomous sorting and part manipulation tasks in Hyundai's automotive manufacturing facilities.
• Hyundai's approach emphasizes industrial-grade mobility and manipulation rather than customer-facing roles, contrasting with BYD's store-deployment strategy.

Other Chinese Automakers

• Chery has its Aimoga humanoid robot.
• SAIC-GM and Li Auto are also pursuing humanoid programs, with Li Auto reportedly adopting a dual-track strategy .
• BYD, XPeng, and Li Auto represent the core Chinese EV brigade entering the humanoid race .

The Bottom Line

BYD is the first major automaker to commit to a customer-facing humanoid deployment in dealerships within 1–2 years, starting with the physical prototype debut this August. While Tesla leads in hype and long-term production ambition, BYD is moving faster on a concrete retail use case. XPeng is closest in production readiness among Chinese rivals, and Hyundai is leveraging Boston Dynamics' advanced mobility for industrial tasks.

The humanoid robot race among automakers is no longer theoretical — BYD, Tesla, XPeng, and Hyundai all have working prototypes, factory testing programs, and commercial timelines. BYD's strategy of combining in-house development with third-party testing, and targeting customer-facing retail roles, sets it apart from the more industrial-focused approaches of its competitors.