BMW Group deploys humanoid robots in production with Hexagon and Figure AI
BMW Group · Germany
BMW Group carried out an initial test deployment of Hexagon's humanoid robot AEON at its Leipzig, Germany plant in December 2025, part of a phased program with a further test deployment planned for April 2026 ahead of the actual pilot phase starting summer 2026. This follows an earlier, successfully completed pilot with Figure AI's Figure 02 robot at BMW's Spartanburg, USA plant: over ten months, Figure 02 worked ten-hour shifts five days a week, supporting production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles by removing and positioning sheet metal parts for welding, moving more than 90,000 components across roughly 1.2 million steps and 1,250 operating hours. BMW created a new 'Center of Competence for Physical AI in Production' to evaluate and scale humanoid robotics -- combining digital AI agents with physical robots -- across its production network.
Overview
BMW Group carried out an initial test deployment of Hexagon's humanoid robot AEON at its Leipzig, Germany plant in December 2025, part of a phased program with a further test deployment planned for April 2026 ahead of the actual pilot phase starting summer 2026. This follows an earlier, successfully completed pilot with Figure AI's Figure 02 robot at BMW's Spartanburg, USA plant: over ten months, Figure 02 worked ten-hour shifts five days a week, supporting production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles by removing and positioning sheet metal parts for welding, moving more than 90,000 components across roughly 1.2 million steps and 1,250 operating hours. BMW created a new 'Center of Competence for Physical AI in Production' to evaluate and scale humanoid robotics -- combining digital AI agents with physical robots -- across its production network.
The challenge
The BMW Group is advancing digitalisation and use of artificial intelligence in production, aiming to relieve employees from monotonous, ergonomically demanding or safety-critical tasks and to remain a technology leader by integrating new technologies such as humanoid robots into production at an early stage.
The solution
BMW Group carried out an initial test deployment of Hexagon's humanoid robot AEON at its Leipzig, Germany plant in December 2025, following an earlier, successfully completed pilot with Figure AI's Figure 02 robot at its Spartanburg, USA plant. Technology partners are evaluated according to defined maturity and industrialisation criteria: a theoretical assessment, laboratory testing against real production use cases, an initial test deployment under real-world conditions, and then the actual pilot phase. At Spartanburg, Figure 02 worked ten-hour shifts five days a week, handling the precise removal and positioning of sheet metal parts for welding. At Leipzig, the initial test deployment took place in December 2025, with a further test deployment planned from April 2026 ahead of the actual pilot phase starting summer 2026, testing multifunctional use of AEON in high-voltage battery assembly and component manufacturing. BMW created a new 'Center of Competence for Physical AI in Production' to consolidate expertise and scale humanoid robotics -- combining digital AI agents with physical robots -- across its production network, underpinned by a unified IT and data platform integrated via the BMW Smart Robotics ecosystem.
Reported business value
Over ten months at Spartanburg, Figure 02 supported production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles, moving more than 90,000 components across roughly 1.2 million steps and 1,250 operating hours. The pilot confirmed that humanoid robots can safely perform precise, repetitive work steps such as positioning components with millimetre precision, and found that motion sequences trained in the laboratory could be transferred into stable shift operation faster than expected. BMW Group and Figure AI are now evaluating additional use cases for deploying the successor Figure 03 robot.
Sources
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