Hyundai wants to sell humanoid and robot dogs through its car dealerships

Looking ahead: Imagine being able to swing by your local Hyundai dealership to buy a humanoid or dog-like robot. That scenario is the vision of the automaker's CEO, José Muñoz, and the company could even provide the financing for these expensive machines.

"We have existing potential distribution for selling robots through our dealer partners," said Muñoz during the company's investor day.

Back in 2021, Hyundai Motor Group took the surprising step of acquiring an 80% controlling stake in robotics giant Boston Dynamics, valuing the company at $1.1 billion.

Hyundai obviously wants a return on that investment. One of its recently announced plans is to build a factory capable of producing 30,000 Atlas humanoid robots annually by 2028. It wants to begin deploying the machines at its Georgia plant that same year, with plans to roll them out across all global production sites.

Then there's the quadrupedal Spot. It's had many jobs in its time: a bomb squad observation device, cleaner and gardener, guard dog, military assistant, pizza delivery/seagull fighter, factory inspector, and more. It was also tested as a package delivery assistant for a second time in July. Meanwhile, Hyundai has used Spot robots at its facilities for inspections and maintenance.

There's also Stretch, a warehouse-focused robot that's essentially an arm on a movable base.

These robots aren't cheap. Spot previously started at $74,500, but it's likely a lot more expensive these days (buyers have to contact the company for a quote). Advanced humanoid bots, especially those designed for commercial tasks, are even pricier. That could be why Muñoz said Hyundai Capital, which finances cars, is looking at ways of doing the same for robots, though it's unclear whether Muñoz was referring to enterprise customers or a future consumer market.

Hyundai isn't the only automaker moving into this space. Tesla is refitting part of its Fremont facility to build Optimus, which Elon Musk wants to deploy within the company before selling it to others. BMW has already used Figure 02 at its South Carolina plant; the humanoid supported production of more than 30,000 X3 vehicles during a ten-month trial. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, is testing Apptronik's Apollo in its factories.

For now, factories and warehouses are the machines' most realistic commercial settings. Stretch is unloading trucks for logistics firms such as DHL and Maersk, while Amazon and GXO have trialed Agility Robotics' Digit for repetitive container-moving work.

Companies always repeat the same old line about robots taking exhausting or dangerous jobs and filling labor shortages rather than replacing people, but workers have reason to worry. A machine capable of running long shifts without wages, holidays, or sick leave is always going to pose a threat to its fleshy counterparts. Whether consumers ever buy Atlas alongside an Ioniq remains to be seen, but commercial robots are already clocking in.