Ubtech’s Humanoid Robot U1 Arrives at Mercedes and Hyundai Dealerships in China

Ubtech Robotics partners with Boshi Group to sell hyperrealistic U1 humanoid robot via luxury car dealerships; pre-orders top 13,000 but stock down 33% in 2026 amid deep losses.

Ubtech Robotics is taking an unusual route to market for its hyperrealistic U1 companion robot: the luxury car showroom. The Chinese company has inked a distribution deal with the Boshi Group, a strategic partner of Mercedes-Benz in the country, that places the bionic machines in the 4S dealerships of both Mercedes and Hyundai across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Boshi becomes the first officially authorized reseller for the UWORLD U1 series, which Ubtech is pitching as the world’s first mass-produced full-size hyperrealistic humanoid. The agreement, signed on July 15, 2026, extends beyond pure sales — the two sides plan a closed loop of technical development, channel operations, application scenarios and after-sales service, with the robot also taking up residence in Boshi’s “Mechanical Eden” experience center for wealthy clients to lease.

The U1 comes in three variants — Lite at 119,800 yuan, Pro at 169,800 yuan, and Ultra priced at 990,000 yuan for the male model and 880,000 yuan for the female version. With 88 degrees of freedom, the male robot stands 183 centimetres and weighs 84 kilograms, while the female measures 168 centimetres and 70 kilograms. The pipeline of orders has been striking: the company reported more than 3,800 pre-orders within the first ten days of the launch event in Shenzhen, where it displayed over 50 hyperrealistic models, and by the end of June total pre-orders had climbed past 13,361. Down payments alone topped ten million yuan, based on a 3,000-yuan deposit per unit. Final payment for those early orders is due in July. Yet the stock has been unable to hold onto any lasting momentum from the demand surge.

At the Frankfurt listing, shares changed hands at 9.73 euros on the most recent trading day, a 2.53% gain from the prior close of 9.49 euros, but the longer-term picture remains grim. The equity has shed 1.43% over one week, 22.34% over 30 days, and roughly a third since the start of 2026 — 32.92% by the primary count, 34.58% by some calculations. From the 52-week high of 17.00 euros set on January 19, the stock is down 42.79%. It lurks just 9.15% above the 52-week trough of 8.91 euros plumbed on July 13. Both the 50-day moving average (11.70 euros) and the 100-day average (11.73 euros) stand well above the current price, signalling sustained downward pressure. The relative strength index of 41 points to a neutral reading, while annualized 30-day volatility of 85.19% underscores the stock’s jittery character. Market capitalisation sits at 4.76 billion euros. Meanwhile, Ubtech’s Hong Kong-listed shares, recently at 83.55 HKD, trade at a deep discount to the analyst target of 153.06 HKD.

Profitability remains the glaring weak spot. Simply Wall St reported a net loss of 703.191 million yuan, and the price-to-sales ratio of 18.2 dwarfs the industry median of 1.1 and even the peer average of 10.8. The research firm pegged a fair P/S multiple at just 7.4, suggesting the valuation has plenty of room to deflate. Revenue is heavily tilted toward mainland China, magnifying geographic risk. In the United States, the Class H shares closed at $11.18 on July 14, up 6.99% on the day.

Away from the showroom floor, Ubtech is making strides in industrial humanoids. At the Chain Expo 2026, the company’s Walker C1 full-size electric robot performed ballet and waltz alongside human dancers, executing choreography from Swan Lake. The C1 can interact in multiple languages, navigates with U-SLAM, and reaches speeds of up to 3.7 miles per hour. Ubtech also rolled out its 1,000th Walker S2 from the Liuzhou factory and is targeting an annual output of 10,000 units by 2026. To scale production, it partners with Siemens Digital Industries Software, and counts Airbus and Texas Instruments among its industrial collaborators. China counted more than 140 humanoid robot makers by late 2025, and Ubtech itself shipped roughly 1,000 humanoid units that eye.

The companion robot market is projected to be worth $1.1 billion by 2030, according to TrendForce, which sees the U1 as emblematic of an industry shift toward hyperrealistic products. The demographic drivers — aging societies, falling birth rates, and rising numbers of single-person households — are well established. But competition is intensifying: Shouxing Technology’s Elf series, backed by investors including Lei Jun, 5Y Capital and Zhiyuan Robot, offers a cheaper alternative, while Shanghai Zhuoyide’s Moya model carries a price tag of 1.2 to 1.5 million yuan but caps sales at 50 units. A more troubling headwind may come from psychological effects: reports indicate that 37% of emotional companion robot users experience a decline in social skills, a risk that analysts say could weigh on the entire segment’s long-term adoption.