XPeng’s robot business has moved a step closer to volume production.
On 8 September XPeng’s own line completed automated final assembly of its first high-end general-purpose humanoid, and the machine walked off the line by itself, marking the shift from research build to line manufacturing.
XPeng says the line was designed and developed in-house, fusing automotive quality systems with humanoid manufacturing know-how, with core process automation above 80 per cent.
Ammunition for scale
On 24 August XPeng’s robot unit closed its first external round at more than US$900 million, at a post-money value above US$6.3 billion. IDG Capital led the round, Gaorong Venture Capital joined, and Tencent and Alibaba came in as strategic investors.
The IRON humanoid carries 76 degrees of freedom and three Turing AI chips for 2,250 TOPS of effective compute. XPeng plans volume production by the end of 2026, starting in its own stores and campuses, with delivery in China and overseas markets in 2027.
From a US$900 million round to an automated line, XPeng is moving from a technology story to a manufacturing story. The next test is whether it can copy the supply chain, manufacturing discipline and quality control it built for cars into humanoids and ship at stable volume.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original OFweek Robot report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience.
Translated and adapted from OFweek Robot (https://robot.ofweek.com/2026-09/ART-898890-12005-30702340.html).