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Buying an electric vehicle could soon involve a salesperson who never needs a coffee break.
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng is preparing to deploy its human-sized IRON robots to work as sales assistants in its car dealerships, designating Australia as one of its primary global testing grounds.
Speaking at the company's Australian relaunch in Melbourne, XPeng Vice Chairman and President Dr. Brian Gu outlined how the humanoid technology will function on the retail floor. "The IRON could function as a sales agent," Gu said per EV Central. "It can greet customers, it can introduce the product, answer questions, take a walk with the customer around the vehicle, hand over a bottle of water, open the door and explain the inside."
The NYSE-listed car maker, founded by former Alibaba executive Xiaopeng He, plans to deploy roughly 1,000 IRON units across its Chinese stores, offices, and manufacturing facilities by early 2027. By late 2027, the automaker intends to offer the technology to commercial, retail, and office partners globally.
According to XPeng, IRON stands 173 centimeters tall, weighs 65 kilograms, and uses automotive-grade components. It is powered by the company’s Turing AI chips and large language models, drawing on technology related to XPeng’s autonomous-driving and Robotaxi programs.
When XPeng unveiled IRON in Guangzhou last November, its humanlike appearance prompted some viewers to question whether a person was concealed inside. During the demonstration, company employees cut open part of the robot’s artificial skin to show its internal structure.
“It was actually the first time a robot has to cut open its own skin to prove to the world it’s indeed a robot,” Gu said.
Job concerns and safety questions
The announcement has renewed concerns about automation replacing entry-level customer service jobs. Gu argued that the robots are intended to handle repetitive work while human staff focuses on negotiation and relationship-building.
“Maybe a robot can be a sales assistant, do a lot of the routine, repeatable, mundane jobs that currently some people are doing,” Gu said. “But it will free up people to focus on negotiating, making more sales, closing more deals … those things are not going to be replaced by a robot yet.”
Experts say deployment is technically possible, but safety and liability remain important issues. Jeannie Paterson, co-director of the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics, told the Australian Financial Review that companies would be responsible for incidents involving robots and that governments should develop clearer safety standards.
The bigger picture
XPeng’s move shows how automakers are increasingly treating AI and robotics as core parts of their business, not just features inside vehicles. Tesla, Hyundai and BMW are also developing humanoid robots for factory and commercial use.
The immediate impact may be modest for consumers, a robot greeting customers or explaining vehicle features. For dealerships, however, the technology could eventually reduce staffing needs during extended operating hours and create a new hybrid sales model where humans step in mainly for financing, negotiation and final purchase decisions. The downside is that humanoid robots remain expensive, technically challenging and potentially prone to errors in unpredictable environments.
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