A Tech Storyteller publicationAI / ENGINEERING / REAL MACHINES
TORQUE & TOKENS

FEATURE / CARMAKERS × HUMANOIDS

· LUKAS TIMM, EDITOR · COMPANY-REPORTED STAGES, NOT A RANKING

How 14 carmakers are getting into humanoids

Tesla turned its Model S line into an Optimus line. We mapped 14 carmakers by how they are getting in: build their own, back a robot company, deploy someone else's robots, research, or stand nearby.

Left: Tesla's own Q2 2026 update sentence, highlighted: 'We have decommissioned the manufacturing lines for Models S & X at our Fremont Factory and are installing the first-generation lines for Optimus, where we expect to start production soon.' Headline: The Model S line is gone. Which carmaker builds robots next? Right: a Xiaomi humanoid next to totes in Xiaomi's car plant, frame from its 3 Nov 2026 film.
Left: Tesla Q2 2026 Update, p.6, 22 Jul 2026 [1]. Right: frame from Xiaomi's car-plant film, 3 Nov 2026 [4]. The answer is in the map below ↓

01 / WATCH

Watch the explainer (2 min 25 s)

Silent, text-led explainer, 2 min 25 s, 1080 × 1350. It opens with our fictional satire comic (invented scenes and lines, no real quotes); every factual slide after it comes from the sources below.

02 / THE REAL PART

Tesla handed its Model S line to Optimus

Excerpt from Tesla's Q2 2026 Update, Robotics section: We have decommissioned the manufacturing lines for Models S and X at our Fremont Factory and are installing the first-generation lines for Optimus, where we expect to start production soon.
Tesla Q2 2026 Update, p.6, 22 Jul 2026 [1]. Tesla's own words, unedited.

S/X lines decommissioned, first-generation Optimus lines going in. Tesla's Q2 update [1].

California Optimus listed as "early ramp". Model 3 and Model Y keep running at Fremont. Tesla's Q3 update [2].

What this doesn't say: how many robots come off that line. Planned capacity is not output, and we make no claim about Optimus production numbers.

13 other carmakers took different doors. →

03 / THE MAP

Five doors into humanoids

Each carmaker sits where its own (or its partner's) dated sources put it. Labels are our classification of those sources. "Not established" means not found in our review, which is not the same as "none exists".

BUILDS ITS OWNCONTROLSINCUBATEDAFFILIATEDDEPLOYSRESEARCHADJACENTHISTORIC

DOOR 1Build their own humanoid

BUILDS ITS OWN22 Jul + 21 Oct 2026

Tesla

Optimus line in the old Model S/X space at Fremont; California Optimus listed as "early ramp". Model 3 and Model Y keep running.

Not established: Actual sustained Optimus output and a shipped customer fleet. Line capacity is not output.

Sources [1] [2]

BUILDS ITS OWN8 Sep 2026

XPENG

IRON humanoid production line commissioned, first unit built.

Not established: Sustained robot output; a commissioned line is not mass adoption.

Sources [3]

OWN R&D3 Nov 2026

Xiaomi

Own humanoid R&D; an 8-hour task film from its car plant, shown sped up.

Not established: The exact robot model and commercial availability. The film is not an uncut, intervention-free shift.

Sources [4]

DOOR 2Back a robot company

CONTROLS5 Jan 2026

Hyundai

Hyundai Motor Group controls Boston Dynamics, which announced the product version of Atlas.

Not established: The exact current equity stake.

Sources [5]

INCUBATED21 Aug 2026

GAC

GoMate, a wheel-legged humanoid from GAC's incubated robot business; about 50 deployments, company-reported.

Not established: The exact ownership percentage and independently measured deployment results.

Sources [6]

AFFILIATED4 Nov 2026

Chery

AiMOGA Robotics, whose release names a Chery EVP as AiMOGA general manager and links Chery procurement, manufacturing and quality systems to it.

Not established: Equity and control are not verified, so we do not call it control or incubation.

Sources [7]

DOOR 3Deploy someone else's robots

DEPLOYS27 Feb + 21 Sep 2026

BMW

Figure humanoids at Spartanburg; a wheeled Hexagon AEON pilot in Leipzig.

Not established: A BMW-branded humanoid manufacturing business. We make no claim either way about BMW's own robot R&D.

Sources [8] [9]

INVESTS + TESTS15 Mar 2024 + 18 Mar 2025

Mercedes-Benz

Invests in Apptronik and tests the Apollo humanoid in its plants.

Not established: Investment is not control; current fleet size. The latest specific source here is from March 2025.

Sources [10] [D10]

JV DEPLOYSUBTECH page, undated

FAW-Volkswagen (JV)

UBTECH describes Walker S Lite inspection training at FAW-Volkswagen in Qingdao.

Not established: This is one joint-venture case, not every VW plant, and not an own VW humanoid.

Sources [11]

DEPLOYSUBTECH page, undated

BYD

UBTECH describes Walker S1 factory training and handling at BYD.

Not established: An own BYD humanoid programme was not verified in our review. That is an evidence gap, not proof of absence.

Sources [11]

DOOR 4Research

RESEARCH20 Aug 2025 + 31 Jul 2026

Toyota

TRI's robot AI work on Boston Dynamics Atlas; Toyota's own humanoid interaction research.

Not established: A commercial Toyota-branded general-purpose humanoid line.

Sources [13] [12]

RESEARCH28 Apr 2026 (avatar page undated)

Honda

Avatar robot: human teleoperation with AI assistance.

Not established: A mass-market autonomous Honda humanoid. The avatar demo is not autonomy.

Sources [14] [D12]

DOOR 5Stand nearby

ADJACENT12 Nov 2025

Porsche

Porsche Consulting supports NEURA Robotics.

Not established: Any Porsche AG humanoid business, ownership stake or deployment.

Sources [15]

HISTORIC6 Jan 2020

Ford

First Digit customer: bought two Agility Robotics Digits for research.

Not established: 2020 evidence says nothing about Ford's 2026 fleet or an own Ford humanoid.

Sources [16]

04 / OUR ENGINEERING READ · NOT A COMPANY CLAIM

A car plant is a head start

Frame from Xiaomi's car-plant film: a humanoid robot working beside wheeled mobile robots and totes on the factory floor.
Xiaomi plant film, 3 Nov 2026, shown at the source's 5x speed. Frame: Xiaomi / @XiaomiTech_ on X [4].

Supply chains, line design, batteries and fleet software carry over from building cars. Hands, contact, balance and the jump to the next workcell still have to be solved.

CARRIES OVERSTILL TO SOLVE
Supply chainsActuator and hand wear
Line design, rampWhole-body calibration + test
Batteries, motorsBalance, charging mid-shift
Fleet softwareContact-rich hands, new parts

05 / THE TEST WE WOULD RUN

Make, buy, partner, or redesign the task?

For a European plant that's the sharp decision. We'd settle it on one dirty, repetitive workcell and compare three options there: a humanoid, fixed automation, and a mobile manipulator.

COUNT THREE THINGS

  1. Accepted tasks
  2. Interventions per 100 cycles
  3. Cost per accepted task, with operators, charging and downtime included

Which carmaker's next move would surprise you most?

06 / FICTIONAL EDITORIAL SATIRE

The comic that opens the explainer

SATIRE · INVENTED SCENES AND LINES · NO REAL QUOTES
Four-panel satire comic labelled FICTIONAL EDITORIAL SATIRE. Fremont, before: a hand presses a DECOMMISSION S/X button. Fremont, after: a person seen from behind cheers at a line of humanoids under an OPTIMUS EARLY RAMP banner, with a sign saying Model 3/Y still next door. Meanwhile, Xiaomi: a humanoid next to SU7 cars says Just one more product line. Meanwhile, legacy HQ: invented executives at a table with VW, Ford and Porsche name plates say Wait, we need humanoids too? and Let's form a steering committee.
AI-generated editorial satire by Torque & Tokens. All scenes, people and lines are invented; no real person's face is shown. Company logos appear for commentary. The facts are in the sections above.

07 / ALL SLIDES

The seven factual slides

Tap a slide for the full-resolution image. Same slides as the explainer. Where a slide footer says "sources in first comment", that refers to the social post; on this page every source is listed below.

Slide 2: Tesla handed its Model S line to Optimus, with Tesla Q2 2026 deck excerpt and dated cards.Slide 3: Door 1, build their own humanoid: Tesla, XPENG, Xiaomi.Slide 4: Door 2, back a robot company: Hyundai controls, GAC incubated, Chery affiliated (equity not verified).Slide 5: Door 3, deploy someone else's robots: BMW, Mercedes-Benz, FAW-VW (JV), BYD.Slide 6: Doors 4 and 5: Toyota and Honda research, Porsche adjacent, Ford historic.Slide 7: Our read, a car plant is a head start, with the Xiaomi plant frame and carries-over vs still-to-solve rows.Slide 8: The test: one dirty, repetitive workcell; count accepted tasks, interventions per 100 cycles and cost per accepted task.

SOURCES AND CREDITS

The 16 primary sources

Snapshot 4 Nov 2026. These are company-reported stages, not independent audits. Complete links, in the order cited in our post.

  1. Tesla · Q2 2026 Update, p.6 ·
    https://assets-ir.tesla.com/tesla-contents/IR/TSLA-Q2-2026-Update.pdf
  2. Tesla · Q3 2026 Update, p.6 ·
    https://assets-ir.tesla.com/tesla-contents/IR/TSLA-Q3-2026-Update.pdf
  3. XPENG · XPENG commissions humanoid robot production line (IRON) ·
    https://www.xpeng.com/au/news/01a0c826ab12a0c365408a028229001e
  4. Xiaomi · Factory task film, original company video on X (@XiaomiTech_) ·
    https://x.com/XiaomiTech_/status/2117542298238222588
  5. Boston Dynamics · Boston Dynamics unveils new Atlas robot to revolutionize industry ·
    https://bostondynamics.com/blog/boston-dynamics-unveils-new-atlas-robot-to-revolutionize-industry/
  6. GAC · GAC GoMate Mini commercial deployments ·
    https://www.gacgroup.com/cn/news/detail?baseid=19183
  7. AiMOGA Robotics (GlobeNewswire) · From Real-World Applications to Scale: AiMOGA Robotics Advances Its Commercialization Strategy (names Chery EVP Guibing Zhang as AiMOGA GM) ·
    https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/04/3394996/0/en/from-real-world-applications-to-scale-aimoga-robotics-advances-its-commercialization-strategy.html
  8. BMW Group · BMW humanoid robot in Leipzig ·
    https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/news/general/2026/humanoid-robot-in-leipzig.html
  9. BMW Group · BMW Group to deploy humanoid robots in production in Germany ·
    https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0455864EN/bmw-group-to-deploy-humanoid-robots-in-production-in-germany-
  10. Mercedes-Benz Group · Humanoid robots and digital production (Apptronik Apollo) ·
    https://group.mercedes-benz.com/company/production/production-network/mbdfc-humanoid-robots.html
  11. UBTECH · Humanoid industrial solutions (FAW-Volkswagen, BYD) ·
    https://www.ubtrobot.com/en/humanoid/solutions/industry
  12. Toyota · Research on Voice Interaction with Humanoid Robots ·
    https://global.toyota/en/mobility/frontier-research/44665908.html
  13. Toyota Research Institute · Boston Dynamics and TRI whole-body AI work on Atlas ·
    https://pressroom.toyota.com/ai-powered-robot-by-boston-dynamics-and-toyota-research-institute-takes-a-key-step-towards-general-purpose-humanoids/
  14. Honda · Honda Avatar Robot technology ·
    https://global.honda/en/tech/Avatar_robot/
  15. Porsche · Porsche Consulting: The real colleague (NEURA) ·
    https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2025/company/porsche-consulting-the-real-colleague-41063.html
  16. Ford Media · Agility Robotics sells first Digit robots to Ford ·
    https://media.lincoln.com/content/fordmedia/feu/ch/de/news/2020/01/06/agility-robotics-sell-first-digit-robots-to-ford.html

Further dated references from the same dossier

Not cited in the post itself; listed so every date on this page can be checked.

  1. [D1] Tesla · Q1 2026 Update ·
    https://assets-ir.tesla.com/tesla-contents/IR/TSLA-Q1-2026-Update.pdf
  2. [D2] Tesla · Fremont Factory page ·
    https://www.tesla.com/fremont-factory
  3. [D3] Xiaomi · 2022 Interim Report ·
    https://ir.mi.com/system/files-encrypted/nasdaq_kms/assets/2022/09/26/4-52-30/2022%20Interim%20Report.pdf
  4. [D4] Hyundai Motor Group · CES robotics strategy ·
    https://www.hyundai.com/worldwide/en/newsroom/detail/0000001100
  5. [D5] Hyundai Motor Group · Boston Dynamics ownership statement ·
    https://www.hyundai.com/content/hyundai/worldwide/en/newsroom/detail/0000001225.html
  6. [D6] Hyundai Motor · 2026 CEO Investor Day ·
    https://www.hyundai.com/worldwide/en/newsroom/detail/0000001260
  7. [D7] GAC · Huilun financing and industrialization ·
    https://www.gacgroup.com/cn/news/detail?baseid=19182
  8. [D8] AiMOGA Robotics (GlobeNewswire) · Mobo debut and global pre-orders ·
    https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/10/27/3389757/0/en/mobo-makes-global-debut-and-opens-pre-orders-as-aimoga-unveils-its-new-path-to-industrialization.html
  9. [D9] Chery International · 2026 innovation conference and AiMOGA ·
    https://www.cheryinternational.com/pc/news/news1/20261021/detail-2673.shtml
  10. [D10] Apptronik · Apptronik and Mercedes-Benz commercial agreement ·
    https://apptronik.com/news-collection/apptronik-and-mercedes-benz-enter-commercial-agreement
  11. [D11] Toyota · Frontier Research portfolio ·
    https://global.toyota/en/mobility/frontier-research/
  12. [D12] Honda · P2 IEEE milestone and continued robotics work ·
    https://global.honda/content/dam/site/global-en/topics-new/cq_img/2026/c_2026-04-28aeng/c_2026-04-28aeng.pdf

Credits

  • Opening comic: AI-generated fictional editorial satire by Torque & Tokens; invented scenes and lines, no real quotes.
  • Tesla deck excerpt (thumbnail, slide 2, section 02): Tesla, Q2 2026 Update, p.6 [1].
  • Xiaomi plant frame (thumbnail, slide 7, section 04): Xiaomi / @XiaomiTech_, factory task film, 3 Nov 2026 [4].
  • Logos: the companies' own marks, used to identify them. Vector files: Simple Icons 16.36 (BMW, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Porsche, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, Xiaomi) and official marks (BYD, Chery, Mercedes-Benz, XPENG); GAC is shown as a text label.
  • Explainer, slides, map and thumbnail: Torque & Tokens, built from the sources above.

Logos and company names identify the companies discussed; no endorsement or partnership is implied.