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This page covers AI in manufacturing on the factory floor: humanoid robot pilots on car assembly lines and four-legged robots that inspect finished work.
BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant is the longest-running humanoid robot example. In 2024, BMW said Figure's humanoid ran a trial lasting several weeks, placing sheet-metal parts into fixtures in the body shop. It published no measured results from the trial. [3] In April 2025, a BMW spokesperson told Fortune that one robot worked at a time, and only off-hours until March 2025. [4] BMW now says its Figure 02 humanoid "supported the production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles over ten months." That is BMW's own claim, and it gave no cost. [1]
BMW has since started a pilot in Germany. At its Leipzig plant, Hexagon's AEON humanoid "delivers materials to the line," BMW says. [5]
At Hyundai's Georgia EV plant, Boston Dynamics' Spot robot does exterior quality inspection in the weld shop, Boston Dynamics said. [2] Hyundai calls that weld shop 100% automated, The Korea Herald reported. [6]
Each case below covers what was deployed, what the companies have and haven't published, and what is still unproven.
© 2026 Real World Wire. Written October 28, 2026.
The castings feed prototype builds of the Fathom electric pickup at Louisville Assembly Plant, which Ford is retooling for about $1.9 billion. Launch is set for 2027, so there are no production results yet.
Hexagon's AEON robot is delivering materials and testing battery work at BMW's first humanoid pilot in Europe. BMW hasn't published any results from Leipzig.
BMW says, in its own words, that its Figure 02 pilot supported production of more than 30,000 X3s over ten months. Its successor, Figure 03, has started a parts-sorting demonstration. There's still no cost data, and no word on whether the first robot hit its speed target.
Slate says its pickup has fewer than half the parts of a typical truck, and it plans to build it in a former printing plant in Warsaw, Indiana, with no paint shop. First deliveries are expected in Q4 2026.
Boston Dynamics' four-legged robot inspects car bodies at the end of an almost fully automated weld shop. Hyundai owns both the plant and the robot maker, and it hasn't published results.
Honda built a megacasting process for the Honda 0 Series battery case, then cancelled three U.S.-built EVs in March 2026 and booked operating expenses of up to ¥1.12 trillion. Fewer parts didn't fix weak demand.
A supplier printed copper-nickel Virginia-class components in under five weeks against a typical 17-month wait, the shipbuilder installed its first metal-printed submarine part, and a destroyer valve's 29-week lead time fell 70%.
Short of talent and facing surging demand, Fab 7 used machine-learning maintenance, remote support, ML quality control and digital workflows, and cut prototyping time 30%. It earned Global Lighthouse status.
Faced with jetty congestion and more complex crude and products, the refinery joined up planning, inventory and logistics with AI forecasting. On-time delivery rose from 85% to 95%.
Two in-house systems, AiTriz and MAIVS, flag misfitted connectors and missing parts at the station, before end-of-line checks. Ford hasn't published what they've saved.
A BMW spokesperson told Fortune a single Figure robot worked at Spartanburg at any given time, and only outside production hours until March. Figure's CEO had described a fleet doing "end-to-end operations."
A Figure 02 robot placed sheet-metal parts into welding fixtures during a trial at Plant Spartanburg. BMW calls it a success and says it's still working out where humanoids fit. No cost, speed or uptime figures were released.