UBTECH Targets 10,000 Humanoid Robots Annually by 2026 Amidst EV Sector Demand

UBTECH CBO Details Aggressive Scale-Up for Humanoids in Manufacturing

Shenzhen, China – UBTECH Robotics is setting its sights on a massive expansion in humanoid robot production, aiming to manufacture 10,000 units in 2026, a tenfold increase from its 2025 target of 1,000 robots. Michael Tam, the company’s Chief Brand Officer, revealed these ambitious figures in a recent Bloomberg interview, citing strong demand primarily from the electric vehicle (EV) sector and other manufacturing leaders.

Tam stated that UBTECH already has "customer demand" and "a lot of orders already attached" to support this significant production ramp-up. Key clients reportedly include prominent EV automakers such as BYD and Volkswagen's operations in China, alongside manufacturing behemoth Foxconn and logistics company Sun Feng. This demand, according to Tam, is fueling UBTECH's push to integrate its humanoid robots, like the Walker S model, into "new productive forces" for China's manufacturing industry.

Highlighting recent progress, Tam pointed to the deployment of 20 humanoid robots at Dongfeng Liuqi Motor Co. in Liuzhou this month, which he described as "the first deployment of the human robot into the productive life in manufacturing in the world." While UBTECH has previously announced trials and deployments at facilities for Audi-FAW and Zeekr, the Dongfeng initiative is presented as a significant step towards broader industrial adoption.

Achieving such a rapid scale-up is not without its hurdles. Tam acknowledged the primary challenge lies in ensuring the robots are "useful tools for manufacturing." This involves extensive testing across various tasks and factory scenarios. "We are testing in tasks and different scenarios. It's preparing for increasing the numbers of deployment of the humanoid robot into the manufacturing," Tam explained. This collaborative effort involves working closely with customers like BYD and Foxconn to identify and refine use cases directly based on their operational needs.

The UBTECH CBO also touched upon China's burgeoning humanoid robotics ecosystem, noting the emergence of "hundreds of new founded human robot companies in the past two years in mainland China." He attributed this rapid development to advancements in Artificial Intelligence, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), which make humanoids "smarter than before and understanding and can reason more about the real world." Combined with China's well-developed manufacturing supply chain, Tam believes this gives the nation an edge in scenario testing and deploying humanoids in industrial and commercial applications, potentially "a little bit ahead of the US."

While UBTECH has been actively deploying its Walker S series robots in various pilot programs, including at Zeekr for material handling and quality inspection, and at Audi-FAW for logistics and assembly assistance, the leap to 10,000 units signifies a major statement of intent. The company's ability to overcome the practical challenges of integrating these robots effectively and cost-efficiently into complex manufacturing workflows will be critical in the coming years. The industry will be closely watching if this aggressive target can translate into widespread, impactful deployment on factory floors.