XPeng presents itself as a global Physical AI company. I went to see what that looks like at its headquarters in Tianhe, Guangzhou, on a street called 智行路. I was there in the afternoon, with the Endeavor China Innovation Tour. The company logo is on the glass facade. Inside, the claim was already in the room at full scale: cars on the floor and up on the ceiling, humanoids and robot dogs in the next hall, and a white room of ARIDGE aircraft.
This piece puts two things side by side. One is what XPeng itself published in its second quarter 2026 results, the figures and the plans the company attributes to itself. The other is what I saw on campus. When a number or a launch year is a company projection, I say so.
I start with a figure anyone can check. In the second quarter of 2026, XPeng's revenue was RMB 19.74 billion, with a quarterly gross margin of 20.7%, according to the company's official results. In the same quarter, overseas deliveries rose above 20,000 units, up 81% year on year. The company also says the overseas business accounted for more than 25% of revenue in the first half, with an average price above 40,000 euros.
The company that calls itself Physical AI
XPeng presents itself as a global Physical AI company, headquartered in Guangzhou and listed on the NYSE and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In the same results release, it describes a portfolio of intelligent electric vehicles, a robotaxi and humanoid robots, and its own stack of Turing chips, models and software. That is the thesis the company puts on paper. On campus, the thesis shows up in a room, in metal and on screens.
I went there to see how a car company stages, in the same building, the robots and the aircraft it places alongside its main line. The results release helps sort out what is a report, what is a target and what is still a plan.
Cars, robotaxis and what XPeng projects
In the second quarter release, the company lays out the lineup and its delivery targets. The GX model had taken more than 7,000 units in July in the domestic market, according to XPeng itself. The same text spoke of a G9L launch and deliveries in China in September. The L03, a coupe SUV, had overseas deliveries planned for the fourth quarter, and the company's target was to exceed 40,000 quarterly overseas deliveries. All of that is what the company was reporting or projecting in that release, not a tally I checked later.
XPeng also described its VLA 2.0 driving assistance model, with the first major update in China from the end of August 2026, and a production robotaxi with VLA 2.0, with more than 2,000 internal test orders in Guangzhou. That robotaxi is the one in the company's release. On the street outside the building, what I photographed was a WeRide van, and I come back to that below, in what I saw on campus.
Robotics and the IRON plan for 2027
The robotics business, according to the company, raised more than US$ 900 million, at a valuation above US$ 6.3 billion after the round. Those figures come from XPeng itself, in the second quarter results.
In the same text, chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng talks about launching the IRON humanoid in 2027, with scale deliveries in China and abroad for retail and services. That is the company's plan. I do not treat the 2027 launch as a done deal.
On campus, this part of the story is no longer just a line in a results release. I stood next to a physical IRON prototype. Commercial delivery, as the company describes it, remains on the 2027 horizon.
What I saw in Guangzhou
The campus is on 智行路, in Tianhe. I spent more than two hours there, in the afternoon.
The showroom puts the cars on the floor and also in the air. The Next P7 fills a wall and a ceiling of LED (IMG_1804) and, later, sits in the glass hall with the door open (IMG_1863). A grey GX stands on the ground with its doors open, and a black car hangs upside down from the ceiling (IMG_1864). On the stage, the lineup sits under the lights, and the same line appears again on the screen above it (IMG_1827). There is also a model of a store, with the XPENG logo and name at the top (IMG_1842). In one corner, an electric vehicle chassis is on display, with a robotic arm on the ceiling (IMG_1832).
In the robotics hall, I stood next to a physical IRON prototype. It is a white biped, in a textured suit, with a dark visor (IMG_1848). The panel behind it says 铁人IRON / IRON Released and marks 2024. That year is the announcement, made at XPENG AI Day, not commercial delivery. The machine I saw is a prototype. The launch plan, as the company describes it, remains 2027.
In the same hall there was another unit: a silver humanoid, with 03 and BATTERY INSIDE on its chest (IMG_1858). It is a different unit from IRON. In one photo, that silver humanoid stands in front of the Innovation Journey panel, with the PX / 小白龙 line illustrated on it (IMG_1845). The physical PX robot dogs, 小白龙, were on the hall floor: a PX1 in front of a panel that reads 2020 and 1st Generation (IMG_1852), and another from the same line, face on, with the X logo on its chest (IMG_1853).
After the cars and the robots, the campus opens into a white hall with a grid of skylights. On the floor, a black craft with six rotors. Overhead, another module hangs from the ceiling. In the center, a white and blue concept car with a rack of rotors on the roof (IMG_1879, IMG_1887). I walked through that room (IMG_1883). The name on the bodies, on the module and on the stand is ARIDGE.
Outside, in front of the building, a van went by with the sign 文远知行 Robotaxi, from WeRide (IMG_1871). The XPeng logo is on the glass facade behind it. I photographed the van with the campus in the background.
What to watch from here
IRON. I will watch whether the 2027 plan holds, with a launch and scale deliveries in China and abroad, for retail and services, as the company describes. What I saw was the prototype.
The robotics business. The raise of more than US$ 900 million and the valuation above US$ 6.3 billion after the round are company figures. The test is what this front becomes as a product.
Overseas deliveries. The target of more than 40,000 units a quarter and L03 deliveries in the fourth quarter are company projections, from the second quarter release.
XPeng's own robotaxi. The company describes a production robotaxi with VLA 2.0 and more than 2,000 internal test orders in Guangzhou. That is a different front from the WeRide van that was on the street outside the campus.
Summary table
| Topic | Main fact | Source in this piece |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | XPeng presents itself as a global Physical AI company, headquartered in Guangzhou, listed on the NYSE and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange | Second quarter 2026 results, according to the company |
| Revenue | RMB 19.74 billion in the quarter | Second quarter 2026 results, according to the company |
| Gross margin | 20.7% in the quarter | Second quarter 2026 results, according to the company |
| Overseas | More than 20,000 deliveries in the quarter, up 81% year on year; more than 25% of first half revenue, with an average price above 40,000 euros | Second quarter 2026 results, according to the company |
| GX | More than 7,000 units in July in the domestic market | Second quarter 2026 results, according to the company |
| G9L | The release spoke of a launch and deliveries in China in September | Second quarter 2026 results, a company report or projection |
| L03 and the overseas target | Coupe SUV with overseas deliveries planned for the fourth quarter; a target of more than 40,000 quarterly overseas deliveries | Second quarter 2026 results, company plan |
| VLA 2.0 and robotaxi | First major update in China from the end of August 2026; a production robotaxi with more than 2,000 internal test orders in Guangzhou | Second quarter 2026 results, according to the company |
| Robotics | More than US$ 900 million raised, at a valuation above US$ 6.3 billion after the round | Second quarter 2026 results, according to the company |
| IRON | Announced in 2024, at XPENG AI Day; the company talks about a launch in 2027, with scale deliveries in China and abroad for retail and services | Second quarter 2026 results, company plan; the 2024 on the campus panel is the announcement |
| What I saw | A showroom with The Next P7, a GX and a car on the ceiling; an IRON prototype; a silver humanoid; PX dogs on the hall floor; the ARIDGE hall; a WeRide van on the street | Visit to the Guangzhou campus |
Frequently asked questions
How does XPeng present itself? As a global Physical AI company, headquartered in Guangzhou, listed on the NYSE and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with a portfolio of intelligent electric vehicles, a robotaxi and humanoid robots, and its own stack of Turing chips, models and software, according to the second quarter 2026 results.
Is the IRON on campus already a commercial product? The unit I stood next to is a prototype. The panel marks 2024, and that year is the announcement, made at XPENG AI Day. The company talks about a launch in 2027, with scale deliveries in China and abroad for retail and services. That is the company's plan, not a realized fact.
Is the silver humanoid the IRON? The IRON I saw is the white biped with a dark visor. In the same hall there was a silver humanoid, with 03 and BATTERY INSIDE on its chest, a different unit.
Where were the PX robot dogs? The physical dogs from the PX line, 小白龙, were on the hall floor. A panel illustrates that line; the silver humanoid stands in front of that panel, not in the place of the physical dogs.
What was the van on the street, in front of the building? A WeRide van, with the sign 文远知行 Robotaxi. The XPeng logo is on the glass facade behind it.
What is ARIDGE, in what I saw? It is the name on the bodies, on the module and on the stand in the hall of flying craft, at the XPeng campus in Guangzhou.
Where do the US$ 900 million and the valuation above US$ 6.3 billion come from? From the second quarter 2026 results. They are the company's own figures for the robotics business, at a valuation above US$ 6.3 billion after the round.
Have the overseas delivery targets already been met? Not in this piece. The target of more than 40,000 quarterly overseas deliveries and L03 deliveries planned for the fourth quarter appear here as company projections, from the second quarter release.
I left with a clear split in mind. In the showroom, the cars are already the product, at full scale. In the robotics hall, I could stand next to an IRON prototype, while the commercial machine remains a 2027 plan. On the street, a WeRide van rolled past the XPeng facade. That is the company I saw in Guangzhou, and that gap is what I will watch.