BYD’s Stella Li tells BI she wants to put humanoid robots in every car showroom

• Chinese EV giant BYD is competing with Tesla in the race to produce humanoid robots.

• Senior manager Stella Li told BI that she wants to use the robots in the company’s showrooms.

• Li said robots will help sell cars but cannot replace the “emotional connection” of a human salesperson.

BYD is developing its own rival Tesla’s Optimus robotand one of the Chinese automaker’s top executives wants it to sell cars on the showroom floor.

One report BYD executive vice president Stella Li spoke about the building with Business Insider editor-in-chief Jamie Heller at the Cannes Lions festival: humanoid robots The home and service sector will be a “huge” market for the company.

“My goal is to bring two or three robots to every store. They can explain to the customer, have fun, even show off the car, show off the car,” said Li, who predicts the technology for robot car salesmen will be available in the next “one or two years.”

Li added that although BYD expects showroom robots to play a role in selling its cars, they cannot replace the “emotional connection” provided by a human salesperson.

“We still need people, but now we can make our service better thanks to robotics,” said Li, the Chinese automaker’s second-most senior executive and the public face of the company.

BYD became the last company to join the race producing humanoid robotsAccording to Morgan Stanley’s estimates, the global market is expected to grow from $3 billion in 2025 to $28 billion in 2030.

The Chinese EV giant’s entry into the robotics market will see it once again face off against permanent rival Tesla. US automaker plans to start production of the car Optimus humanoid robot This summer and CEO Elon Musk believes the robotic assistant has the potential to be the best greatest product of all time.

The humanoid robot market is currently dominated by Chinese companies such as Unitree and UBTech. Chinese robotics companies accounted for more than 80% of all humanoid robot shipments last year, according to data from Omdia.

The majority of robot deployments so far have occurred in controlled factory and warehouse environments, with the greater unpredictability of home and real-world environments typically occurring. a bigger challenge for technology.

Li told Business Insider: He said the humanoid robot industry in China is advancing rapidly, but more efficient energy consumption systems and better artificial intelligence “brains” are needed before home robots can become a reality.

The BYD executive said that the company will produce its humanoid robot in-house, but is open to purchasing robots from rival companies if needed. BYD is also investing heavily in industrial robots, and Li said the company’s so-called “dark factoriesWhere production is carried out entirely by robots.

“I think there will be a lot of revolution here in the next three to five years,” Li said.

“Maybe we can start manufacturing where there are no humans, and then the robot runs the plant,” he added.

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