BMW Deploys First Humanoid Robot in German Auto Production as Physical AI Strategy Expands from US Pilot to Europe
BMW Group has begun deploying Hexagon Robotics' AEON humanoid robot at its Leipzig plant, marking the first time a humanoid robot has entered automotive production in Germany, following a Spartanburg pilot where Figure AI's robot moved 90,000 components across 1,250 operating hours.
Overview
BMW Group announced on March 9 that it will deploy humanoid robots in production at its Leipzig plant in Germany for the first time, marking the entry of physical AI into European automotive manufacturing. The robot, named AEON and built by Swiss firm Hexagon Robotics, began an initial test deployment in December 2025 and is scheduled for a full pilot phase in summer 2026.
The Leipzig deployment builds on what BMW describes as a successful first-generation pilot at its Spartanburg plant in South Carolina, where Figure AI’s Figure 02 humanoid operated for ten months on the X3 assembly line. To coordinate the rollout, BMW has established a new Center of Competence for Physical AI in Production at its Munich headquarters.
The AEON Robot
AEON is a wheeled humanoid standing 1.65 meters tall and weighing 60 kilograms, developed by Hexagon Robotics, the robotics division of Swedish measurement technology group Hexagon. The robot integrates 22 sensors, including peripheral cameras, time-of-flight sensors, infrared detectors, SLAM navigation cameras, and microphones, giving it 360-degree spatial awareness. It runs on NVIDIA Jetson Orin onboard computing and was developed using NVIDIA’s Isaac simulation platform.
The robot moves at up to 2.5 meters per second on wheeled legs and can exchange its battery in 23 seconds for near-continuous operation. Its scanning subsystem operates at one million points per second with 50-micron precision, enabling quality inspection tasks that require sub-millimeter accuracy.
AEON operates across four layers of physical AI: simulation and reinforcement learning, where thousands of virtual instances optimize movement strategies simultaneously; perception-based task completion, where high-level commands trigger autonomous execution; imitation learning, where approximately 20 teleoperated demonstrations enable generalization to new tasks; and world models, which allow the robot to reason about unfamiliar objects and adapt its grip and movement dynamically.
Hexagon Robotics President Arnaud Robert framed the company’s approach in industrial terms. “We’re not in the dancing business — we’re in the working business,” he said.
Leipzig Deployment Plan
At Leipzig, AEON’s initial assignments involve high-voltage battery assembly and component manufacturing for exterior parts. These are areas where tasks are repetitive, physically demanding, and require precision, according to BMW. The robot uses interchangeable grippers and scanning tools to perform multifunctional tasks across production stations.
The deployment follows a staged approach. After the initial test in December 2025, BMW plans further testing in April 2026 before launching the full pilot in summer 2026. Two AEON units are targeted for production deployment by the end of 2026.
Michael Nikolaides, BMW’s Senior Vice President of Production, said the pilot projects help the company “test and develop Physical AI under real-world industrial conditions.” Michael Stroebel, Head of Process Management and Digitalisation, added that BMW is “focusing on gradual integration into our production system to test a wide range of applications.”
Spartanburg Precedent
The Leipzig expansion is informed by BMW’s earlier pilot at Plant Spartanburg, where Figure AI’s Figure 02 humanoid worked ten-hour shifts Monday through Friday for ten months in 2025. During that period, the robot supported production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles, moved over 90,000 components, logged approximately 1,250 operating hours, and completed roughly 1.2 million steps. Its primary task was the removal and precise positioning of sheet metal parts for welding.
BMW said the transition from laboratory training to stable shift operation at Spartanburg happened faster than anticipated, and the company is applying operational lessons to accelerate the Leipzig rollout. Key infrastructure requirements identified during the US pilot include safety barriers, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, and standardized robot interfaces.
Strategic Context
The new Center of Competence for Physical AI in Production, led by Felix Haeckel, evaluates technology partners through a four-stage process: theoretical assessment, laboratory testing with real production use cases, initial test deployment, and full pilot integration. BMW is also evaluating Figure AI’s Figure 03 for additional use cases.
Milan Nedeljkovic, BMW Board Member responsible for Production and incoming CEO effective May 14, 2026, described the initiative as part of a broader digitalization push. “The symbiosis of engineering and AI opens entirely new possibilities,” he said.
BMW’s move adds to a growing list of automakers integrating humanoid robots into production. Xiaomi has deployed humanoid robots on its electric vehicle assembly line in China, and Mercedes-Benz has partnered with Apptronik for logistics tasks at its Tuscaloosa facility. The Leipzig pilot represents the first such deployment in Germany, Europe’s largest automotive market.