XPeng (XPEV) Earnings Call Q2 2026: 20,7 % Marge und Hochlauf von IRON Robotics

Wichtigste Erkenntnisse

• Der Umsatz von XPeng stieg im zweiten Quartal 2026 im Vergleich zum Vorjahreszeitraum um 8 % und gegenüber dem Vorquartal um 51,5 % auf 19,74 Milliarden RMB, getrieben durch höhere Fahrzeugauslieferungen sowie ein Wachstum im Dienstleistungs- und sonstigen Geschäft.
• Die Auslieferungen erreichten 103.295 Fahrzeuge, was einem Anstieg von 65 % gegenüber dem Vorquartal entspricht. Die Bruttomarge lag bei 20,7 %, verglichen mit 17,3 % im Vorjahreszeitraum und 20,6 % im ersten Quartal.
• Der Nettoverlust belief sich auf 1,34 Milliarden RMB, verglichen mit 0,48 Milliarden RMB im Vorjahreszeitraum und 1,70 Milliarden RMB im Vorquartal. Die flüssigen Mittel lagen zum 30. Juni 2026 bei 40,48 Milliarden RMB.
• Das Management erwartet für das dritte Quartal Auslieferungen von 115.000 bis 121.000 Einheiten und einen Umsatz von 21,7 Milliarden bis 23,4 Milliarden RMB.
• XPeng Robotics sammelte mehr als 900 Millionen US-Dollar bei einer Post-Money-Bewertung von über 6,2 Milliarden US-Dollar ein. Das Management plant, den Hochlauf der Serienproduktion von IRON bis Ende 2026 zu starten und 2027 mit großflächigen Auslieferungen in China und Übersee zu beginnen.
• Die Quartalsauslieferungen im Ausland überstiegen erstmals 20.000 Einheiten und stiegen im Jahresvergleich um 81 %. Das Management rechnet damit, dass die Auslieferungen des Gesamtunternehmens im Ausland im vierten Quartal 40.000 Einheiten überschreiten werden.

Wichtige Finanzdaten

Geschäfts- und operative Entwicklung

Die Fahrzeugauslieferungen beliefen sich im zweiten Quartal auf insgesamt 103.295 Einheiten, was einem Anstieg von 65 % gegenüber dem ersten Quartal entspricht. Laut Management stiegen die neuen, nicht stornierbaren Bestellungen im dritten Quartal im Vergleich zum Vorquartal um 50 % auf ein Rekordniveau.

Der GX verzeichnete im Juli mehr als 7.000 Auslieferungen im Inland. Laut XPeng gehörte das Modell im chinesischen MPV/SUV-Segment mit Preisen von über 300.000 RMB zu den Top 3. Das Unternehmen bezeichnete zudem den neu eingeführten MONA L03 als starken Auftragstreiber und hat zur Kapazitätserweiterung die Zweischichtproduktion eingeführt.

Der Verkaufs- und Auslieferungsstart für den fünfsitzigen G9L ist für September geplant, während der Marktstart des MONA L05 in China im vierten Quartal vorgesehen ist. Das Management strebt für das vierte Quartal monatliche Auslieferungen von über 60.000 Einheiten im Gesamtunternehmen an.

Die internationalen Auslieferungen überstiegen im Quartal mit einem Plus von 81 % gegenüber dem Vorjahr die Marke von 20.000 Einheiten. Das Auslandsgeschäft trug im ersten Halbjahr mehr als 25 % zum Gesamtumsatz bei, während der durchschnittliche Exportverkaufspreis über 40.000 EUR lag. Die Übersee-Auslieferungen des MONA L03 sollen voraussichtlich im vierten Quartal beginnen.

XPeng plant, ab Ende August ein umfassendes VLA 2.0-Upgrade auszurollen. Das Management gab an, dass das On-Device-Modell über 3,5-mal mehr Parameter verfügen und eine um 300 % verbesserte Wahrnehmungsempfindlichkeit bieten wird. Das Unternehmen strebt an, in der ersten Hälfte des Jahres 2027 die europäische behördliche Zulassung für VLA 2.0 zu erhalten.

Die mit VLA 2.0 betriebene Robotaxi-Flotte von XPeng hat in Guangzhou mehr als 2.000 interne Testaufträge absolviert. Das Ziel des Unternehmens ist es, 2027 mit dem Passagierbetrieb ohne Sicherheitsfahrer im Fahrzeug zu beginnen.

Roboter-Strategie

XPeng Robotics schloss seine erste Finanzierungsrunde ab und sammelte mehr als 900 Millionen US-Dollar bei einer Post-Money-Bewertung von über 6,2 Milliarden US-Dollar ein. IDG Capital führte die Runde an, unter Beteiligung von Gaorong Ventures sowie strategischer Unterstützung durch Tencent und Alibaba.

Das Management plant, den Hochlauf der Serienproduktion des humanoiden Roboters IRON bis Ende 2026 zu starten und die Einheiten zunächst in XPeng-Stores und auf Betriebsgeländen einzusetzen. Die offizielle Markteinführung und großflächige externe Auslieferungen in China und Übersee sind für 2027 geplant, wobei primär Einzelhandels- und Dienstleistungsanwendungen angestrebt werden.

IRON verfügt über 76 Freiheitsgrade am gesamten Körper und 21 Freiheitsgrade in jeder Hand. Er nutzt drei Turing-KI-Chips mit einer effektiven Rechenleistung von bis zu 2.250 TOPS. Laut XPeng überschneiden sich mehr als 85 % der Lieferkettenpartner für den Roboter mit der automobilen Lieferkette des Unternehmens.

Das Management rechnet damit, dass die monatliche Produktionskapazität im Jahr 2027 je nach Nachfrage auf mehrere Tausend Einheiten hochgefahren wird. Zudem wird erwartet, dass die Hardware-Bruttomarge von IRON diejenige des Automobilgeschäfts übertreffen wird, mit zusätzlichem Umsatzpotenzial durch KI-Modell-Upgrades, Software und Abonnements.

Prognose des Managements

Das Management rechnet im vierten Quartal mit einem deutlichen Anstieg der Auslieferungen, wobei ein monatliches Volumen von über 60.000 Einheiten angestrebt wird. Es erwartet zudem, gestützt durch die internationale Markteinführung des MONA L03, dass die Übersee-Auslieferungen im vierten Quartal 40.000 Einheiten übersteigen werden.

Im Bereich Robotik strebt XPeng eine Serienproduktion bis Ende 2026 und den Beginn der externen Kommerzialisierung im Jahr 2027 an. Unter Verweis auf die frühe Phase der Kommerzialisierung nannte das Management weder einen Zeitplan für die Profitabilität noch ein Auslieferungsziel für das Gesamtjahr 2027.

Risiken und wichtige Aspekte

• Extremwetter und Störungen in der Lieferkette haben den Produktions- und Auslieferungshochlauf beeinträchtigt, insbesondere beim MONA L03.
• Die Fahrzeugmarge ging im Jahresvergleich aufgrund des Produktgenerationswechsels zurück, während der branchenweite Kostendruck weiterhin ein zu berücksichtigender Faktor bleibt.
• Die F&E-Ausgaben stiegen, da XPeng in neue Fahrzeuge, KI-Technologien, autonomes Fahren und humanoide Robotik investierte.
• Die Einführung von VLA 2.0 in Europa bleibt abhängig von behördlichen Genehmigungen, Lokalisierung und Tests.
• Das Management erklärte, dass die anfänglichen Herausforderungen in der Roboterproduktion vor allem in der Qualität liegen, während die spätere Skalierung vom Vertrieb und der kommerziellen Akzeptanz abhängen wird.
• XPeng hat noch keine spezifischen Stückkosten, Preise, Zeitpläne zur Profitabilität oder detaillierten Volumenprognosen für 2027 für IRON vorgelegt.

Highlights der Analysten-Fragerunde

Die Analysten konzentrierten sich stark auf die Produktionskapazität, die Wirtschaftlichkeit pro Einheit und die Kommerzialisierungsstrategie von IRON. Laut Management soll die Produktion bis Ende 2026 beginnen, wobei der Einsatz 2027 von internen Umgebungen auf externe Einzelhandels- und Dienstleistungskunden ausgeweitet wird. Die Kapazität könnte sich je nach Nachfrageentwicklung auf mehrere Tausend Einheiten pro Monat erhöhen.

Was die Wirtschaftlichkeit betrifft, erwartet das Management, dass die Hardware-Bruttomarge von IRON höher sein wird als die des Automobilgeschäfts. Das Unternehmen sieht zudem wiederkehrende, höhermargige Chancen durch KI-Modell-Upgrades, Software-Services und Abonnements.

XPeng plant, großen kundenorientierten Unternehmen sowie kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen Priorität einzuräumen, anstatt sich zunächst auf Fabriken oder den privaten Haushalt zu konzentrieren. Verkaufsunterstützungs- und Reiseleiterfunktionen wurden als frühe Anwendungsfälle identifiziert, wobei Software-Development-Kits zur Unterstützung weiterer Anwendungen geplant sind.

Das Management betonte die gemeinsamen Kompetenzen zwischen Automobil- und Robotiksparte, darunter KI-Architektur, Datentraining, Chips, Lieferketten und Fertigung. Roboterspezifische Sicherheits-, Steuerungs- und Simulationsmodelle erfordern jedoch eine separate Entwicklung.

Die Robotik- und Automobilaktivitäten bleiben derzeit integriert. Das Management verwies auf einen Zeitraum von 18 Monaten, der eine schrittweise Trennung ermöglichen könnte, betonte jedoch, dass das Robotikgeschäft voraussichtlich vollständig in den Finanzberichten von XPeng konsolidiert bleiben wird.

Vollständiges Transkript des Earnings Calls

Vollständiges Transkript der Telefonkonferenz

Ausführungen des Managements

Operator

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by for the Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call for XPeng Inc. [Operator Instructions] Today's conference call is being recorded.

I will now turn the call over to your host, Mr. Alex Xie, Head of Capital Markets of the company. Please go ahead, Alex.

Alex Xie

Thank you. Hello, everyone, and welcome to XPeng's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Our financial and operating results were issued via newswire services earlier today and available online. You can also view the earnings press release by visiting the IR section of our website at ir.xiaopeng.com.

Participants on today's call from our management team will include Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Mr. He Xiaopeng; Vice Chairman and President, Dr. Brian Gu; Vice President of Finance and Accounting, Mr. James Wu; and myself. Management will begin with prepared remarks, and the call will conclude with a Q&A session. A webcast replay of this conference call will be available on the IR section of our website.

Before we continue, please note that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, the company's results may be materially different from the views expressed today. Certain information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in the relevant public filings of the company as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable law.

This also note that XPeng's earnings press release and this conference call includes the disposal of unaudited GAAP financial measures as well as unaudited non-GAAP financial measures. XPeng's earnings press release contains a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP measures to the unaudited GAAP measures.

I will now turn the call over to our Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Mr. Xiaopeng, please go ahead.

He Xiaopeng

[Interpreted] Good evening, everyone. I am pleased to share with our shareholders and investors that we have just announced the first round of financing for XPeng Robotics business. The business raised over USD 900 million at over USD 6.2 billion post-money valuation. This round was initiated by leading global investors led by IDG Capital, with participation from Gaorong Ventures can support from Tencent and Alibaba as strategic investors.

Both the size and valuation of the first round of financing have set a new private financing record in China's humanoid robotic industry, underscoring the capital markets a strong endorsement of Expo's leadership in physical AI technology road map ability to manufacture at scale and long-term commercial value. The financing will provide ample capital to support the mass production and continued the development of our advanced general purpose humanoid robot, IRON. We will accelerate our progress towards the ChatGPT moment for physical AI whilst bringing additional strategic resources to strengthen the robotics ecosystem and expand real-world applications. As a global leader in physical AI, XPeng will not only lead the large-scale deployment and commercialization of autonomous driving worldwide but also build the world's most valuable humanoid robot company. Today, we're very happy to see that. We have taken another important step towards that goal.

Since June, alongside my responsibilities as CEO of XPeng. I have also taken up on the role of the CEO of our robotics business. Over the past 12 years, XPeng has remained committed to full stack in-house R&D across both software and hardware, building a solid technological and commercial foundation for the physical AI era. We are able to bring together and integrate the strengths and resources of the entire group. These include the supply chain, automotive grade manufacturing capabilities and global footprint developed through our automobile business as well as the touring AI chips, AI infrastructure and world foundation models developed through our other business.

By applying these capabilities to our robotics business, I believe that we can accelerate the mass production and commercialization of expense humanoid robots. We have been conducting our research and development in the area of robotics for more than 8 years, and I have always alluded that technological challenges and level of innovation required for advanced general purpose of humanoid robots are far greater than those for smart EVs by at least 20 times. To accomplish something that is this difficult. We need to have a broad and deep R&D and system integration capabilities across design and signing, hardware and chips, software and AI, data and control systems and quality and manufacturing. Only then can we succeed.

XPeng is the only robot company in China with such comprehensive in-house R&D capabilities across the entire technological stack. This is why XPeng IRON fundamentally stands apart from other humanoid robots country on the market with differentiated capabilities across multiple areas. Currently, our full in-house technology stack covers the IRON's body, brain, cerebellum, data and infrastructure. On the hardware front, XPeng IRON features the industry's most human-like form and design. XPeng pioneered the industry's first fully enclosed flexible electric structure for IRON, combining aesthetic appeal with enhanced safety, with the 76 degrees of freedom across the body and the 21 degrees of freedom in each and both are at industry-leading levels.

XPeng has independently designed and developed an AI-native hardware platform and all core components specifically for embodied intelligence, including chips controllers, motion modules and [indiscernible] hands. Leveraging our established margin EV R&D and manufacturing capabilities, we can achieve automotive great quality and build the capability to manufacture and deliver at scale.

In terms of intelligence, exon iron is powered by 3 touring AI chips, delivering effective computing power of up to 2,250 tops. With the industry the highest level of edge computing power, XPeng's physical AI foundation model runs directly on IRON, enabling it to autonomously perform complex work tasks without tally operation whilst ensuring low latency experience and data security. IRON's highly human-like hardware platform provides a natural advantage in scaling data. It allows us to maximize the reviews of the behavioral data generated in people's everyday lives and rapidly adapted to a broad range of environments designed fulfilment.

As XPeng moves ahead to mass production in real-world deployment, we will gain access to vast amounts of real-world and human demonstration data. accelerating the training and iteration of our AI models. In turn, continued improvement in model capabilities will allow IRON to enter more scenarios and generate more high-quality data, creating a flywheel across data models and applications that will accelerate IRON's evolution in the real world.

XPeng IRON combines an exceptionally human-like design. The most intelligent AI brain and the highest standards of safety and quality. Only by doing so can IRON become a trusted companion to people and truly become a part of everyday working life. We have recently achieved several major milestones in the development of the mass production version. Starting from September, we will unveil and demonstrate a series of distinctive capabilities. We plan to enter scale production by year-end with initial commercial deployments in XPeng stores and campuses.

In 2027, XPeng IRON will officially launch and begin large-scale deliveries in China and overseas to external customers in the retail and service sectors. Next year, monthly production capacities can rapidly ramp up to several thousand units in return to market demand. I believe the technological barriers to advance the general purpose of humanoid robot are exceptionally high, while the supply of high-quality humanoid robots remain limited. As a result, the lifetime revenue and gross profit contribution of each IRON, including hardware sales and recurring revenue from upgrades to its AI model capabilities will be substantially higher than the current average selling price and gross profit per vehicle of our automotive business. I expect the commercialization of humanoid robots to scale rapidly in China and overseas following mass production, generating meaningful gross profit growth supporting our investment in physical AI R&D and further widening our technological lead.

Now I would like to come back to our automotive business. In the second quarter, our vehicle deliveries reached 103,295 units, up 65% quarter-over-quarter, and we achieved a year-over-year growth ahead of the broader industry. despite industry-wide cost pressures, our operations remained resilient, supported by our progress in the premium segment in international markets. Company's gross margin remained above 20% in the second quarter. Our tech defined luxury flagship model, GX, stood out among a wave of large 6 seat SUVs launched this year. Domestic deliveries exceeded 7,000 units in July, making it one of the top 3 models in China's MPV SUV segment priced above RMB 300,000. MONA L03, the first SUV in the Mona series, became a breakout hit immediately after its launch with orders setting a new record for any export model.

In the third quarter, new uncancelable orders increased by 50% quarter-over-quarter to a record high. Extreme weather and supply chain disruptions affected our pace of ramping up in the delivery. Here, I would like to especially express my sincere appreciation to our customers for their patients. We have started 2 shift production for the MONA L03 and are working closely with our supply chain partners to accelerate the capacity ramp. I expect that L03 deliveries will increase substantially over the coming months and continue to trend upward.

The success of the GX and the MONA L03 gives us more confidence in our upcoming models. We are translating our competitive strengths in the best-in-class intelligence and standout design into higher sales targets and stronger brand momentum. Our flagship five-seat SUV, the G9L, will officially launch and began delivery in September. The MONA L05 will also launch in China in the fourth quarter with the launch of 4 brand new SUV models. We will cover all major SUV segments. We believe XPeng deliveries to increase significantly in the fourth quarter with monthly deliveries targeting more than 60,000 units.

Our international business is the second growth engine for XPeng's Automotive business and also an important driver of improving profitability. Overseas quarterly deliveries exceeded 20,000 units for the first time in the second quarter, up 81% year-over-year. In the first half of the year, our international business accounted for more than 25% of total revenues. Furthermore, our overseas operations are both exceptional quality with an average selling price of our exports exceeding EUR 40,000, placing our per value revenue and gross profit at the forefront of Chinese automakers expanding globally. Since its global launch in Munich in July, the MONA L03 has attracted significant attention and earned a high praise from overseas consumers for its intelligent technology distinctive styling and spacious interior. I believe that MONA L03 will become XPeng's first major model to achieve the leading sales across multiple international markets.

Overseas delivery of the MONA L03 are expected to begin in the fourth quarter, driving firm-wide quarterly overseas deliveries to exceed 40,000 units. In 2027, we will also introduce multiple star models, including extended range EV models in overseas markets and further expanding our geographic coverage and market share.

Starting from end of August, we will roll out a major upgrade to VLA 2.0. Once again, validating the stating law in autos and delivering substantial improvements in both the user experience and safety. With new 6.3.0 major version, the number of parameters in the VLA 2.0 undeviced model will increase by 3.5x, putting its parameter accounts in order of magnitude above that of small models commonly used in the industry. The new version delivers a 300% improvement in perception sensitivity, introduces the ultra-long horizon reasoning and predictive capabilities and operate at an industry-leading frame rate. This enables the AI driver to see accurately, think ahead can respond quickly. The new version will also integrate others in the smart cockpit capabilities powered by VLA and VLM, bringing selected 4 level capabilities developed for export robotaxi to our passenger vehicles. One example is a voice-activated poor parking, users simply give a voice command, and VLA 2.0 will autonomously find a suitable roadside parking space and park the vehicle without exiting Others mode.

Recently, together with my colleagues, we test drove XPeng's VLA 2.0 and the latest orders from a leading global peer in China Europe and North America, respectively. In my view, VLA 2.0 is already on par with the world's leading others on major roles. A narrow roads when negotiating as well as in campuses and parking facilities, the user experience delivered by VLA 2.0 is even better. It can navigate directly to a parking space with both efficiency and safety. I believe now as we upgrade the computing power and model capabilities, VLA 2.0 will develop even more powerful capabilities over the next several version upgrades. Delivering an L4 level others experience in mass-produced vehicles surpassing peers and establishing a generational lead.

We continue to enhance the VLA 2.0 model capabilities once the accelerating its global deployment. Recently, my team and I completed on-road validation of VLA 2.0 in Germany and which was particularly encouraging with the model primarily trained on data from China, performed nearly as well on the European urban roads as it did in China with almost no additional local training data. We aim to obtain regulatory approval for VLA 2.0 in Europe in the first half of next year and roll out VLA 2.0, bringing a safer, more comfortable and more convenient driving experience to users worldwide. After deploying in overseas market, VLA 2.0 will compete directly with the world's leading others and become defining competitive advantage for our global products. At the same time, we will actively explore new software-based business models, creating a positive cycle in which commercialization and technology developments reinforce each other.

As of now, our pre-installed must produce a Robotaxi powered by VLA 2.0 has completed more than 2,000 internal test orders in Guangzhou and validated the end-to-end process for trial passenger operations, mainly the groundwork for commercial operations. Recently, we have completed the development of our cloud remote takeover platform, and our goal is to begin passenger operations without a safety operator in the car next year. In 2027, XPeng will continue strengthening the technology and cost competitiveness of our Robotaxi while partnering with a leading domestic and international mobility platforms expand our Robotaxi business across key cities in China and around the world. This will create a greater commercial value through vehicle sales technological services and revenue sharing from operations.

In the meantime, we believe that the large-scale application of the physical AI requires more than technological breakthroughs an open and collaborative technology and business ecosystem that creates value for multiple participants is equally important. To accelerate the commercialization of physical AI, we recently established a group-level business development team within the group and are actively engaging with the partners in China and overseas to bring our industry-leading curing AI chips, VLA 2.0, Robotaxi and humanoid robots technologies to global markets more quickly.

For the third quarter of 2026, we expect deliveries to be approximately 115,000 to up 121,000 units, representing quarter-over-quarter growth of 11.3% to 17.1%. Revenue is expected to be approximately RMB 21.7 billion to RMB 23.4 billion, representing quarter-over-quarter growth of 9.9% to 18.5%. I believe XPeng is entering a period of accelerating momentum across multiple businesses in the second half of the year. Both the domestic and overseas vehicle deliveries are expected to reach [indiscernible]. We also expected to be among the first globally to achieve scale mass production and the commercialization of advanced general purpose humanoid robots. We also expected to be among the first to deploy advanced data technologies in overseas markets, and we will establish new business models around the physical AI ecosystem, creating greater value for customers and shareholders worldwide.

Thank you, everyone. With that, I will now turn over the call to our VP of Finance, James, who will walk you through our financial performance for the second quarter of 2026.

Jiaming Wu

Thank you, Xiaopeng. Now let me provide a brief overview of our financial results for the second quarter of 2026. I will reference RMB only in my discussion today, unless otherwise stated.

Our total revenues were RMB 19.74 billion for the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 8% year-over-year and an increase of 51.5% quarter-over-quarter. Revenues from vehicle sales were RMB 17.05 billion for the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 1% year-over-year and an increase of 55% quarter-over-quarter. The quarter-over-quarter increase was mainly attributable to higher vehicle deliveries. Revenues from services and others were RMB 2.7 billion for the second quarter of 2026, representing an increase of 93.9% year-over-year and an increase of 32.6% quarter-over-quarter. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter increases were primarily attributable to the increased revenues from, first, technical R&D services rendered to the Volkswagen Group due to the successful achievements of certain key milestones. And secondly, parts and accessory sales.

Gross margin was 20.7% for the second quarter of 2026 compared with 17.3% for the same period of 2025 and 20.6% for the first quarter of 2026. Vehicle margin was 12.1% for the second quarter of 2026 compared with 14.3% for the same period of 2025 and 12.1% for the first quarter of 2026. The year-over-year decrease was primarily due to the production generation transition. R&D expenses were RMB 2.91 billion for the second quarter of 2026 representing an increase of 32.1% year-over-year and an increase of 0.3% quarter-over-quarter. The year-over-year increase was mainly due to higher expenses related to the development of new vehicle models and AI-related technologies as the company expanded its product portfolio to support the future growth.

SG&A expenses were RMB 2.5 billion for the second quarter of 2026, representing an increase of 15.2% year-over-year and an increase of 32.5% quarter-over-quarter. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to higher marketing and advertising expenses. The quarter-over-quarter increase was primarily due to the higher commission to the franchise stores and higher marketing and advertising expenses. As a result of the foregoing, loss of operations was RMB 1.14 billion for the second quarter of 2026 compared with RMB 0.93 billion year-over-year and RMB 1.87 billion quarter-over-quarter. Net loss was RMB 1.34 billion for the second quarter of 2026 compared with net loss of RMB 0.48 billion year-over-year and net loss of RMB 1.7 billion quarter-over-quarter. As of June 30, 2026, our cash position was RMB 40.48 billion.

To be mindful of the last of the earnings call, I would encourage listeners to refer to our earnings press release for more details on our second quarter 2026 financial results. This concludes our prepared remarks. We'll now open the call to questions. Operator, please go ahead.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question today comes from Tim Hsiao with Morgan Stanley.

Fragen und Antworten

Tim Hsiao

[Foreign Language] So my first question is about volume and production target. So what is the projected production capacity for expense humanoid robot, IRON upon entering commercial mass production by late 2026. And what is the target delivery volume for fiscal year 2027?

He Xiaopeng

[Interpreted] Thank you for your question. This is Xiaopeng speaking. In terms of robots capacity hands versus automobile capacity. From our perspective, we do think that there is quite a large difference between those 2. I think when it comes to the capacities of the supply chain of robots. It is rather broad and deep. But in our company, we emphasize on multiple areas of full stack research and development. And I think when it comes to about the challenges of capacity in the early stage, it is about quality. And in a later stage, it is about sales.

In terms of mass production for 2026, and we expect that by year end of 2026, so we will see mass production kicking in. For iron this product and we believe that we will see the commercialization of the robot itself, first starting with our stores and in 2027, we will see that the commercialization will take place in the different areas of our own self-operated scenarios and rolling out as well as picking up the speed to external commercialization and the user case scenarios. In terms of R&D, and I think that we are looking at starting from the mid and the second half of next year. In 2027, we will pick up the R&D development and the mass production units will be a multiple of several thousand units per month and further picking up the speed.

One final part that I would like to supplement, which is that for the IRON robot deliveries and this will mainly be rolled out in the areas of retail and services, both in China and abroad. And same as our automotive business. The delivery of our robots and sales will be authentic and genuine data in the figures that we will share. In terms of the quality of our robots services that it can provide. I believe that versus the other peers out there in the market when it comes to either the shopping assistance perspectives. With the intelligence level, we will definitely be better and stronger than the others as well as to be able to be used in a more wider and broader -- more adaptive environment.

Tim Hsiao

[Foreign Language] My second question is about the unit economics and margin profile. So what is the estimated unit cost for the mass production [ driven ] of IRON? And what go-to-market pricing strategy does management intend to deploy? And what is the anticipated gross profit margin trajectory, especially after the full-scale ramp? That's my second question.

He Xiaopeng

[Interpreted] Thank you for your question. With respect to the mass produce robots and I think that we are looking at from the perspective of innovation, quality, capacity and all of these for both our hardware and software, we're looking at doing the R&D research or in-house. And when it comes to the supply chain of these parts, actually, over 85% of the supply chain partners that we work with actually overlap with the existing supply chain partners for our automotive business.

I believe the cost of our robots, the IRON robots, the competitiveness will definitely be leading in this area. At the moment, in terms of the pricing for robots in the market, generally speaking, it's about 2.5 to 3x of the [indiscernible] material. For IRON, given that this is a general-purpose robot and there is a very limited supply in the market, and I do believe that our gross margins of the hardware will definitely be better than the existing automotive business. In the meantime, not only that we are relying on the sales of the hardware, there will also be sales of our different models and the software services, subscriptions, et cetera, These, we believe, will all bring in profit for our business.

Operator

Your next question comes from Ming-Hsun Lee with Bank of America.

Ming-Hsun Lee

[Foreign Language] Which part of your robot information fomation model can be highly synergistic with automotive driving? Which modules are shared and which are developed relatively independently?

He Xiaopeng

[Interpreted] Thank you for your question. And in order to answer this question, in our industry, for instance, many people will say that in robots, generally, all they need is one bring and one large model that will be enough. Perhaps this is possible many years and later, but I don't think that is viable as of now.

In terms of the different large models and there are different times. So for instance, we have superfast models, and those are operating at 100 frames per second or even several hundred frames per second. There are these medium speed models, large models, which are operating 10 frames to 20 frames per second. And there are also the slow ones and the slow large models we call them the thinking large models. They operate at 1 frame per second. When it comes to the VLA and the VLM and for instance, those are the ones adopted in our automotive business. I believe that there are similarities. And for instance, the currency adopted in the automotive business when it comes to the roaming in nonplanned road, that will be quite similar to the roaming or moving around of the robots.

For robots, on the other hand, I also believe that some of the thinking capabilities of robots, such as on the open platform next year can also be put into use for our XPeng automotive business. So you can see that there are definitely some synergistic commonalities there. In the meantime, there are also some unique and the point of the robots and such as the different mode for safety and for instance, there are the models of safety such as data privacy and safety about prevention of folding and data safety about the lack of running out of the electricity, et cetera. So as you can see, there are commonalities and all of these we are developing under the large XPeng system altogether. And even so and if we look at the further underlying system and there are many other areas that are quite dissimilar, for instance, the generation of the model -- generative models and as well as the mimicking and the simulation models, et cetera. So those are the similarities.

Sorry, before you move on to your second question, and I would also like to supplement that. Apart from the model in hand, whether it is about the AI applications where the applications of the overall architecture and structure and these are also the ones that we do across the 2 different parts of the business.

Ming-Hsun Lee

[Foreign Language] What dented advantages does XPeng has in robot data collection trending in a close [indiscernible]?

He Xiaopeng

[Interpreted] Thank you. That is a great question. And I do believe that in terms of the physical AI and in the future. And data is, of course, many people say that as long as you have enough data, and that will help with the integration of the services. It is a necessary condition.

However, it is not yet the full condition. And what we would see is that for XPeng and what we are good at is that we have a much better data and the training of the data, we also have a higher quality of the data. For XPeng, for instance, we have been in the area of autonomous driving for over 10 years within not only our R&D for the past over a decade of experience as well as the data that we have collected, we are absolutely leading in the industry among our peers. In terms of the robot, it is the same for the robot management the robots data management, the data training and data quality, all of these are being developed under the same ecosystem at our company. And I believe that apart from the hardware being different in terms of the collection of the data and to all the way to the application of the data at our company for our 2 different lines of business, it would be the same.

For IRON again, once this product become a mass produced and launched into the market, not only that we will be further continuing to collect the real-world data as well as the human demonstrated data and which are both sets of high-quality data, and this will further drive the development in R&D of our product and this is different from the low-quality data and which are not helpful at all. So I believe that by having all of these would actually be able to create a flywheel of the high-quality data and R&D that we are conducting and continue to contribute to the development of our products. That's all my answer for your question.

Operator

Next question comes from Jeff Chung with Citi.

Ming Chung

[Foreign Language] My first question is about the why did XPeng robotech select the salesperson. The tour guide scenario has an initial real-world deployment who are the target customers why would customers buy in and most importantly, are their follow-up plans to expand into industrial and home use cases?

He Xiaopeng

[Interpreted] Thank you very much for your question. For XPeng's robots, yes, indeed, when it comes to commercialization, we have gone down a different route versus other competitors. Many other competitors, they are focusing on breaking into the market by ways of entering into factories, home usage and mainly for 2B business.

What we are looking at is that we are focusing on the large-scale Cs as well as the small and medium Bs. And that is, so to speak, we start entering into the market with business commercialization cases followed by industries and home users at a later stage with the smaller SKUs. The reason we have picked the salespersons and tour guide, et cetera. It is a person. So we believe both in China and abroad and there are 4 major comprehensive capabilities of our robots that are very helpful and would be able to be reflected very well in these sectors.

And the 4 comprehensive capabilities are as follows: number one, is the main body and the main hardware of the robot itself; and number two, environment; number three, the business that it provides; and number four, the emotional value that it brings. Therefore, starting from commercial use cases and starting from the smaller type of business and the smaller and medium type of business industries that we go in. And later on, with IRON, of course, when starts opening up the market, and we will also open up SDKs to enable secondary development as well as further expand its user cases. With these commercial use scenario for collaboration, and we believe that this will also open up more channels for XPeng robots business, not only for off-line sales, but as well as for online sales, so that our customers would be able to see the use cases for our robots and not only for the big customers, but as well as for the small and medium business. So this is our thinking in regard and which is different from our peers.

Ming Chung

[Foreign Language] The second question is about the latest progress on the company's self-developed that stress hand. What overall design approach has adopted? And how does it compare with peers in terms of performance and cost?

He Xiaopeng

[Interpreted] Thank you very much for your question. And yes, indeed, dexterous hand is an extremely important part for robots and therefore our robots and we have one set of hardware, one set software as well as 3 sets of different perspective systems.

In terms of the specific master production plans, we will be communicating with the analysts by year-end. We are not only just conducting the R&D of dexterous hand, and we have also invested greatly into the manufacturing of the processing of dexterous hands as well as the equipment in this regard. -- decor hands for our robots, and we have 21 degrees of freedom, as mentioned earlier. In terms of the size of the product of dexterous hands, it's not the same size as the hand of an adult. And when it comes to the load-bearing capabilities as well as grafting and grouping, we believe that our dexterous hands is in the leading position versus the other peers.

I know that in the industry that people often talk about another type of hands and do not think that is the smart choice to go for. We are not focusing on the fourth or the accuracy itself of dexterous hands and what we are focusing on rather is on striking a good balance of safety, reliability easy to maintain and cost. And for instance, our dexterous hands also has a very nice set of skin that is very similar to the human time.

Operator

Your next question comes from Nick Lai with JPMorgan.

Y.C. Lai

[Foreign Language] First question is really about the [indiscernible] technology. Chairman mentioned that in the first half '27 will start to deploy model in all this market partially starting from Germany with VLA 2.0 technology. I wonder how many more will be equipment such technology the overseas market? And also can we deliberate a bit more about our business models, including prescription and onetime payment strategy that is long term in overseas market?

He Xiaopeng

[Interpreted] Thank you very much for your question. Given to the signal wasn't coming through very clearly, and I could only hear some keywords of your questions. So I'll try my best to answer your question based on what I have heard.

Number one, with respect to the curing AI chips, and this has already been deployed to our L03 vehicles for the one starts, which are launched to the overseas market as well. And all of these will have the ultra version. For VLA, this will be deployed in L03 models across all different markets. And in the meantime, we're also catching up and working with the compliance and local laws and regulations and localization work testing, all of these are being done at the same time in tandem. And in the meantime, we are looking at for instance, about the subscription service of the software for our customers and such updates will be announced and shared with you in due course. We have also established another BD team, and this team is actively discussing with our partners and with respect to the VLA usage or even further expanded into other areas.

Operator

Your next question comes from Tina Hou with Goldman Sachs.

Tina Hou

[Foreign Language] So my first question is regarding -- so with the volume production of our humanoid robot product and also congratulations on the announced equity raising today. Just wondering what would be the expected time line of profitability for humanoid robot business? Or in other words, what level of our sales volume should be achieved in order to become profitable? Also related to that, do we have any plans to report our profit level separately for the humanoid robot as well as the auto business. So that I think the market investors could have a better understanding of the profitability of these 2 separate businesses.

Gui Hongdi

Tina, it's Brian. Let me address your question. With regard to the financial outlook of the robotics business, I think it's a bit too early for us to comment. I would say we are now focused on the milestones that Xiaopeng shared which has reached SOP for our robots for volume production capability by the end of this year and also start deploying first in our internal scenarios and gradually offer to external customers starting, I would say, the first half of next year and gradually ramp up from that. So that's our goal.

I would say it's too early for us to provide a volume prediction guidance. On the stability, we anticipate the product of human robot will achieve much higher gross profit potential compared to the automotive business. In fact, I would say it's -- the hardware is already much higher than the automotive business. In addition to that, we think there will be significant opportunities to add on future AI model, training, upgrade, software capability related revenues, which is much higher margin as well. So given the high profitability as the expectation as well as, I would say, much smaller investment and CapEx requirement for robotics business. I would say, with volume ramp-up is achieved, I would say, probability can become reality much faster than the auto business. So that's our projection.

And also to answer your question regarding the potential separation of the businesses. At the moment, actually, the business are operating together. In fact, we have not started in a separation of the business. We obviously, according to the announcement you saw we actually have a period of 18 months that gradually allow us to achieve a separation. But in the meantime, what we can be focused on still achieving high degrees of synergy because we talked about leveraging the capabilities in AI, the capability on sort of advanced manufacturing, powertrain supply chain so forth. So actually, the 2 businesses can both achieve high efficiency and greater capabilities.

So with that, I think the near-term expectation is it will still be mostly viewed as together as a business. And also as the volume production and also as the commercialization scenarios become more clear, we'll probably think about more likely separations. But in any event, given the ownership structure, this business will be 100% consolidated, it will not impact our financials going forward, even though the business may start to separate based on the plan. So I think in short, we still see the group consolidating all the financials of the robotics business. At the same time, we'll really think about the most efficient and also most synergistic way to run the business.

Operator

That concludes the question-and-answer session. Now I'd like to turn the call back over to the company for closing remarks.

Gui Hongdi

Thank you once again for joining us today. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact XPeng's IR team through the contact information provided on our website or the Piacente Financial Communications.

Operator

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.

[Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]