Automakers Jointly Build Robots, Chery MoJia Leads Way to IPO

 August 19, Chery Executive Vice President, General Manager of International Business Group and General Manager of MoJia Robotics Zhang Guibing revealed during the 2026 World Robot Conference that MoJia Robotics (AiMOGA Robotics) under Chery has launched IPO preparations, is currently negotiating with multiple listing venues, and the timetable is yet to be determined. He stated that listing can raise financing for technical investment and also help improve governance transparency.

MoJia's starting point was not building robots, but the digital virtual avatar Mornine (Mornine). Around 2023, Chery's overseas brand OMODA heated up the C5 model, creating virtual human Mornine that resonates with Gen Z, active on promotional animations, brand live streaming platforms, and more.

The turning point began with operational pain points encountered in Chery's overseas stores. Zhang Guibing revealed that overseas sales are affected by peak and off-peak seasons, staff turnover is frequent, recruitment is difficult, and even if hired, multi-language training is a high threshold. The team thus conceived the idea of "letting Mornine walk into reality", which became the origin of the AiMOGA Robot project.

At the end of 2023, Mornine's first prototype went off the line, and in early 2024, it made its first public appearance at Chery's Global Dealer Conference. After more than two years of technical accumulation, on January 7, 2025, Chery officially invested to establish "Anhui MoJia Smart Innovation Robotics Technology Co., Ltd.", with registered capital of 100 million yuan, legal representative Zhang Guibing, MoJia transformed from an internal project to an independent legal entity.

In February of the same year, Mornine completed its first overseas commercial debut at the Kuala Lumpur store in Malaysia; in April, it appeared at the Shanghai Auto Show, demonstrating multi-modal perception and dexterous operation capabilities; in October, at the Chery Global Innovation Conference, it gave an autonomous speech in seven languages, becoming the focus of the whole event.

From December 2025 to January 2026, MoJia completed the first round of capital increase and strategic investment, registered capital increased to about 104 million yuan. After capital increase, the latest equity structure shows Chery Motors holds 96%, Bethel 1.40%, Fuchun Dyeing 1.20%, Hexie Chaoyue Fund 0.40%, Zhiyuan Innovation 0.20%, Wuhu Economic Development Zone Weida Venture Capital 0.40%, Wuhu Sci-Tech Investment Fund 0.40%.

In terms of performance, MoJia's cumulative global deliveries have exceeded 3,000 units, approximately 2,000 sold overseas, business covers 60 countries and regions, it is the world's first humanoid robot to complete dual EU software and hardware certification. On April 27, 2026 press conference, signed an order for 1,000 intelligent police robots at once and delivered 110 units on-site, product line thus expanded from "4S store sales associates" to the public security field.

Key customers cover Chery's overseas dealer network and public security departments of multiple cities.

Zhang Guibing revealed plans to increase global delivery volume to 10,000 units in 2027, join the industry's first tier, and proposed "three specific actions: improving reliability and cost-effectiveness of large-scale applications, iterating in over 50 countries and 100+ scenarios, achieving 100 unit deliveries to trigger 1,000 unit intent signings."

Industrialization advances in three stages according to "scenario-driven technology", first make child companion scenario robots, then expand to public service and enterprise service scenarios, finally promote robots entering homes.

In terms of supporting construction, 31 innovation labs have been set up, "AiMOGA Academy" established, signed with 100 universities to train talent, quadruped robot production line annual capacity reaches 15,000 units.

At Chery AI Night in January of this year, Chery Chairman Yin Tongyue proposed a "One Bottom Line, Three Directions" strategy, using cars as the cornerstone to promote AI extension to the physical world, covering humanoid robots, Robotaxi, smart agricultural machinery and other scenarios, "putting the car brain into the bodies of other industries". He revealed Chery's R&D budget for 2026 exceeds 32 billion yuan, the "2R Technology" composed of Robotaxi and MoJia is one of the four key focuses, and stated that the original intention of the layout is a rethinking of the "second growth point after the total number of future cars decreases".

At the April 27 MoJia press conference, he once again stated: "We most do not want to be defined as a car company, but as a high-tech, embodied, innovative company facing the future."

He proposed "intelligent cars are mobile robots", robots and intelligent cars have highly homogeneous underlying technologies in perception, planning, control, etc., technology modules and supply chains can be transferred.

2026 is regarded by the industry as the year of concentrated release of automakers' embodied intelligence layouts, globally over 20 mainstream automakers have entered the game through self-research, incubation, investment, etc., the industry is shifting from technology exploration to mass production racing.

MIIT data shows, China's quadruped robots already account for nearly 70% share of global sales. The industry generally judges that 2026 to 2028 will be the key verification window for humanoid robots to go from "prototypes" to "mass production of 10,000 units", but commercialization loop is still in early "strategic loss" stage, bottlenecks such as limited application scenarios and high costs remain to be broken. Against the background of the automotive industry profit margin falling below 3%, embodied intelligence has been regarded by many automakers as a "second growth curve" to hedge against the slowdown of the main business growth.

Source: Car Observer