Global Auto Giants Race to Deploy Humanoid Robots in Factories

Atlas, a humanoid robot developed by Hyundai Motor Group’s Boston Dynamics. [Photo=Hyundai Motor]

Global automakers are beginning to put humanoid robots on factory floors, accelerating a shift toward production sites where people and robots work side by side. With forecasts that the humanoid market could eventually surpass the size of the auto industry, competition to secure an early lead is expected to intensify.

According to industry officials on Feb. 23, Hyundai Motor, Tesla, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota plan to deploy humanoids they developed on their own or with partners starting this year to boost productivity.

Hyundai Motor Group has completed performance tests of a research version of its humanoid robot Atlas and says it is readying it for real-world use. After a one- to two-year validation period, the group plans to complete a factory around 2028 capable of producing more than 30,000 Atlas units a year. Mass-produced Atlas robots are to be rolled out first at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia, then to overseas production hubs in Singapore, India and the Middle East, where they would handle parts sorting and assembly tasks.

Tesla’s humanoid Optimus is also being deployed this month at its Austin, Texas, plant to learn vehicle assembly work. Tesla hired Optimus trainers for about a year to teach the robot factory workers’ movement patterns, concluding the technology is advanced enough for on-site use this year.

Tesla is also preparing for retail sales. Beginning in the second quarter, it plans to convert its Fremont, California, EV line that produced the Model S and Model X into an Optimus mass-production base, with sales to the public starting around next year.

BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota have also begun factory deployments. BMW said it put Figure 02, a humanoid developed by U.S. startup Figure AI, into its Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant and produced 30,000 units of the midsize SUV X3.

Mercedes-Benz is testing Apollo, a humanoid co-developed with U.S. robotics startup Apptronik, at its plants in Berlin and Hungary. Toyota said it will more than double this year’s deployment volume of Digit from a year earlier. Digit, co-developed with a U.S. startup, is supporting production of the compact SUV RAV4 at a plant in Woodstock, Canada.

A report by the Export-Import Bank of Korea projects the global AI robotics market will grow 46% annually through 2034 to $375.9 billion (about 545 trillion won). Morgan Stanley has forecast the humanoid robot market could reach $5 trillion by 2050, exceeding the global auto industry’s $4 trillion size.

* This article has been translated by AI.

Han Jiyeon hanji@ajunews.com