An automated production line builds a humanoid — and it walks off it

XPeng — IRON, Guangzhou — XPeng switched on what it calls the world's first automated production line for advanced humanoid robots, with more than 80% of core processes automated, and an IRON unit walked off the line under its own power on 8 Sep 2026. Read the sequence carefully: this is the line starting, not mass production. XPeng's own timetable still puts mass production at the end of 2026, first deployments into its own stores and industrial parks — reception, vehicle demos, guidance, inspection, small-item handling — and commercial sales and deliveries in China and abroad in 2027. Several outlets reported this as XPeng beginning mass production and beating Tesla; the company said something narrower.