BYD’s answer to its car-sales slump: a humanoid robot in every showroom

BYD sells more electric cars than anyone. Next month, it wants to sell you one using a robot.

China’s biggest EV maker will unveil its first humanoid robot in August, at its Di Space experience centres in Zhengzhou, the company told the South China Morning Post. It will be a working prototype, not a concept, and it will mingle with visitors.

The robot reportedly has a name and a job. According to Chinese outlet KrASIA, citing a since-deleted BYD post, it is called “Xiao Di,” a service humanoid that stands 1.61 metres, weighs 58.5kg and can translate between six Chinese dialects and six foreign languages in real time. BYD has not officially confirmed the specs.

Cars first, then everything else

The plan starts in the showroom. Executive vice-president Stella Li wants two or three robots in every BYD store, greeting customers and explaining cars. She insists they will assist human staff, not replace them.

The 💜 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

From there, the ambition widens: supermarkets, malls and warehouses in the medium term, and eventually homes, doing the cleaning, cooking and companionship. BYD says it will build an open platform that makes both its own robots and models co-developed with others.

Its pitch is manufacturing. BYD already builds its own batteries, motors and electronics at huge scale, and Li argues cars and robots share the same roots. That, in theory, lets it build robots more cheaply than a standalone startup can.

Everyone with a car factory wants one

BYD is not early. It is late. Tesla’s Optimus is the headline rival, but China’s carmakers are swarming in. Xpeng is trialling its Iron robot, Li Auto is exploring designs, and Chery’s Aimoga is already selling to consumers.

The backdrop is a humanoid boom. China made about 20,000 humanoids in 2025 and more than 40,000 in the first half of 2026 alone, with the government pushing for far more. Some forecasts stretch to tens of millions of robot workers within a decade.

The catch, and the timing

There is a reason for the robot rush, and it is not entirely rosy. BYD’s car business is under strain, with first-half sales down about 16% amid China’s brutal price war. A new growth story is welcome.

But a slick demo is not a business. Investors still have no price, no production timeline and no paid deployments to judge. BYD has also denied separate reports of a factory robot line, so much remains unconfirmed.

And the overseas door is closing. The move lands just as the US moves to bar imports of Chinese robots, which could keep Xiao Di out of one of its biggest potential markets. For now, BYD’s robot has one job: sell cars, in China, from a showroom floor.