Xpeng Inc chief executive He Xiaopeng said on Wednesday that he will personally assume leadership of the company's robotics division as Xpeng moves toward mass production of its humanoid IRON robots.
According to an internal letter circulated within the company, He will take the role of CEO of the robotics unit with immediate effect. The shift in leadership arrives as Xpeng ramps efforts to commercialize the IRON humanoid robots it unveiled last year and targets factory-level production by the end of 2026.
In the letter, He Xiaopeng framed the change as a response to an increasingly heated and competitive industry environment. He wrote: "The industry is becoming increasingly hot and competitive, and we have clearly seen the direction and timing of victory, but it still requires more arduous implementation and extremely high decision-making ability."
The announcement also follows the recent exit of Shi Xiaoxin, a senior executive who had been involved with the IRON program. Xpeng confirmed on Wednesday that Shi resigned from the position of senior director of robotics product planning earlier this month.
Xpeng has outlined a staged path to market for the IRON robots. Mass production is scheduled to commence by the end of 2026. The company plans to conduct initial tests of the humanoid robots in Xpeng retail stores before beginning commercial deliveries in China and in international markets starting in 2027.
He Xiaopeng has previously said, most recently in late May, that robotics hardware and the artificial intelligence models that support it are expected to become principal drivers of revenue and gross margins for Xpeng. That strategic emphasis helps explain the decision to place the robotics unit under direct oversight from the company CEO as the division transitions from development to volume manufacturing and commercialization.
The leadership move comes against a backdrop of weaker near-term financial results for Xpeng's automotive business. The company reported first-quarter revenue that was down 17.6% compared with the same period a year earlier, and net losses that widened from the prior year. Those results marked a reversal of the automaker's first quarterly profit, which it had achieved in the fourth quarter.
Context and commercial path
- He Xiaopeng will serve immediately as CEO of Xpeng's robotics arm, taking on direct responsibility for the IRON program.
- Mass production of IRON is planned by the end of 2026, with retail testing preceding broader commercial deliveries slated to begin in 2027.
- The company has signaled that robotics hardware and related AI models are intended to contribute materially to future revenue and margins.