Chinese robotics manufacturer UBTECH Robotics Corp. Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation agreement on Wednesday with luxury automotive dealership operator Shanghai Yongda Holding Group Co., Ltd., securing a commercial purchase order for 400 units of its U1 Pro hyper-bionic humanoid robots.
Under the terms of the agreement, UBTECH plans to complete the delivery of the initial batch of 400 U1 Pro units to Yongda Auto before the end of 2026. The contract represents one of the largest single commercial orders for bionic humanoid robots in the retail sector to date.
The partnership aims to combine UBTECH’s proprietary hardware and artificial intelligence models with Yongda Auto’s physical retail footprint and customer service operations. By joining forces, both companies intend to build a scalable sales, leasing, and maintenance network for embodied AI applications targeting both consumer and corporate markets.
Yongda Auto, a major automotive sales and service group listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, operates an extensive multi-brand dealership network across China. The group has actively expanded into the embodied intelligence sector, establishing capabilities in channel distribution, robot leasing, custom scenario development, and local maintenance and data training services.
In the consumer market, the two entities will use UBTECH's U1 series hyper-bionic robots as an entry point. Yongda Auto will utilize the initial 400 units to conduct product demonstrations, market promotion, and customer service operations, aiming to establish a standardized consumer retail model for humanoid robotics.
For commercial clients, the companies plan to focus on automotive retail environments, conducting joint field research, customized software development, and solution optimization to create reusable industrial and commercial robotics packages.
Additionally, UBTECH and Yongda Auto plan to build a joint flagship experience center in Shanghai. The venue will function as an operational showcase featuring interactive displays, client consultations, and commercial deployment demonstrations. The companies also intend to roll out store-in-store exhibition spaces and AI education programs across Yongda Auto's network of dealerships throughout Eastern China.
Headquartered in Shenzhen, UBTECH has developed a core technical stack spanning embodied AI brains, humanoid controllers, high-performance hardware, and swarm intelligence, offering products for industrial, commercial, and residential applications.
