Xpeng Sets 2026 Target for Mass-Produced ''Iron'' Robot, Eyes 1 Million Units by 2030

A female-styled Xpeng Iron humanoid robot walking on stage. The robot's left leg is covered in a white bodysuit, while the right leg has been stripped of its outer fabric and foam padding to reveal the metal mechanical skeleton and actuators underneath. — To settle the viral "human-in-a-suit" debate, Xpeng released footage of staff cutting away the robot's outer suit and "bionic muscle" fascia layer. The demonstration revealed the mechanical chassis underneath, including some of the actuators that allow for the robot's smooth, human-like gait.

Just weeks after sparking a viral debate over whether its robot was actually a human in a suit, Xpeng is doubling down on its humanoid ambitions.

During the company’s Q3 2025 earnings call on Monday, CEO He Xiaopeng laid out an aggressive timeline for the "Iron" humanoid robot, confirming plans to begin mass production by the end of 2026. In a call largely focused on the automaker's record-breaking EV sales and narrowing net losses, the executive carved out significant time to frame the robot not as a sideline experiment, but as a core pillar of Xpeng’s future in "physical AI."

The announcement adds concrete targets to the initial reveal at AI Day, where the company first teased the 2026 goal.

From Demo to Gen 8

While the "Iron" robot that walked the stage earlier this month impressed—and baffled—audiences with its fluid gait , He Xiaopeng revealed that the unit was actually a "seventh generation" prototype. The version intended for mass production in late 2026 will be the "eighth generation," suggesting significant hardware iterations are still to come.

"Currently, IRON demonstrates only a very small fraction of its capabilities," He said during the call. The company plans to achieve "full capability integration" by the second quarter of 2026, a critical milestone before the assembly lines start moving.

This rapid iteration cycle aligns with recent technical breakdowns of the robot. Analysis of the AI Day demo identified a hybrid machine utilizing a new 5-degree-of-freedom spine and complex shoulder mechanisms , but potentially relying on older-generation hands. The move to an eighth-generation platform suggests Xpeng is racing to close the gap between its advanced skeletal structure and the fine motor skills required for real-world work.

Two identical female-styled Xpeng Iron robots walking side-by-side in unison against a dark background. Both wear white bodysuits and display a fluid, synchronized walking motion. — In a video titled "A Mirror Image—or Two IRON?", Xpeng showcased two units walking in synchronization to demonstrate the stability of its new platform. The robot's realistic hip sway is attributed to a new 5-degree-of-freedom "human-like spine" and a "bionic" fascia layer designed to dampen vibrations.

A Shared Timeline with Tesla

Xpeng’s roadmap sets up a direct parallel with Tesla, which is also racing to convert prototypes into production units by 2026. While Xpeng prepares its "eighth generation" for late 2026, Tesla is targeting a Q1 2026 reveal for its "V3" Optimus.

Both companies are aggressively moving past their current demonstration units—Xpeng's Gen 7 and Tesla's current prototypes—to tackle the immense challenge of mass manufacturing. Just as He Xiaopeng emphasizes the difficulty of the robot's hands, Elon Musk has mandated a new 50-actuator hand for the V3 to achieve human-like dexterity, signaling that 2026 will be the year both automakers attempt to industrialize their humanoid ambitions.

The Economics of "Physical AI"

Perhaps the most striking detail from the earnings call was Xpeng’s perspective on the economics of humanoid robotics. He Xiaopeng argued that the robot's pricing structure would eventually mirror that of automobiles, but with a flipped cost model.

"The traditional way of pricing a car is weight-based," He explained, referring to raw materials like steel and lithium. In contrast, he stated that software accounts for over 50% of a robot's value from day one, compared to just 10-20% in traditional vehicles.

Despite the complexity—the robot features over 60 joints and a proprietary "End-to-End" large model—Xpeng is targeting affordability. The CEO expressed confidence that the retail price of the robots could be "very similar to car prices," aiming to make them accessible to households within five years.

The new female-styled Xpeng Iron robot walks down the center of the stage, flanked on both sides by a row of stationary, earlier-generation Xpeng robots. The sleek, white-suited new model contrasts sharply with the exposed mechanical chassis and more industrial design of the older units standing in the background. — Visualizing the company's rapid evolution, the new 'Iron' robot walks past a lineup of its predecessors at AI Day 2025. CEO He Xiaopeng highlighted that the company has iterated through seven generations of robots—five of which were quadrupeds—to arrive at this new "most human-like" bipedal form, designed specifically to adapt to human environments and tools.

Integration with the EV Ecosystem

Xpeng is betting that its experience building cars gives it a manufacturing edge over pure-play robotics startups. The company refers to this synergy as "Physical AI," where vehicles and robots share a "homogeneous physical world model," System-on-Chips (SoCs), and infrastructure.

This isn't just marketing rhetoric; it’s a supply chain strategy. The robot runs on the same Turing AI chips as Xpeng’s cars, and the company plans to leverage its existing global sales network to distribute the machines.

"When we build the future sales and marketing layout... there's a lot of synergistic effects that we can enjoy," He noted.

Deployment: Retail First, Homes Later

While the long-term vision includes a "million units annually" by 2030, the immediate rollout will be more contained. Xpeng plans to deploy the Iron robot in its own retail stores and factories starting in late 2026.

The robots will serve as:

Tour Guides and Retail Assistants: Working in Xpeng showrooms to introduce products to customers.
Factory Workers: Performing tasks in Xpeng’s own production facilities.
Patrol Units: Monitoring campuses.

This aligns with the strategy outlined at AI Day, where the company explicitly stated it would skip home deployment initially due to safety concerns and the difficulty of navigating cluttered domestic environments.

A "Warmer" Machine

The earnings call also touched on the robot's distinct design philosophy. Unlike the utilitarian, often skeletal designs of competitors, Xpeng is prioritizing a "bionic" aesthetic. The robot features a compliant "fascia" layer that mimics human muscle, a design choice that He Xiaopeng claims is already changing how people interact with the machine.

A female-styled Xpeng Iron robot walking across a stage without its outer white clothing or hands. The robot’s body is covered in a textured "bionic muscle" lattice structure that mimics human musculature. The arms end at the wrists, giving the figure an unfinished, eerie appearance. — To showcase the engineering behind its realistic shape, Xpeng demonstrated the robot walking with its outer suit removed, revealing the "bionic muscle" fascia layer. This compliant, 3D-printed lattice structure sits between the mechanical skeleton and the external skin to smooth out motion and absorb impacts. The missing hands in this stripped-down model highlight the modular, work-in-progress nature of the Gen 7 hardware.

"We actually attracted a lot of people to dare to hug him," He said, noting that traditional robots were rarely appealing enough for such physical contact. This "warmth" is central to Xpeng's plan to eventually place these machines in homes as "family members" rather than just tools.

The Road Ahead

Despite the optimism, the path to 2026 mass production is steep. As previously reported, early trials in factories showed that the robot's hands "didn't last more than a month" during repetitive tasks. Solving durability issues while integrating the complex VLT (Vision-Language-Task) AI brain will be the defining challenge for Xpeng's engineering team over the next 18 months.

However, with a record quarter in the books and a clear mandate from leadership, Xpeng is signaling that it is no longer just an EV company—it is a robotics company that happens to sell cars.