Hyundai CEO says your local car dealership could sell you a humanoid robot

A Boston Dynamics Atlas robot is on the pitch during the World Cup match between Brazil and Norway.

Hyundai's CEO says he hopes homeowners will pick one up at a dealership.

Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Hyundai's CEO said the company is nearing mass production of its Boston Dynamics robots.

He added that Hyundai could lean on its dealership and financing models during its rollout.

Several car companies have been launching robots in their plants.

Consumer applications are rarer.

Your local Hyundai dealership could someday start selling humanoid and dog-like robots.

"We have existing potential distribution for selling robots through our dealer partners," José Muñoz, Hyundai's CEO, said during the company's investor day.

He added that Hyundai Capital, which already finances cars, is exploring whether it could do the same for robots.

The robotics plan has been years in the making.

In 2021, Hyundai Motor Group acquired an 80% controlling stake in Boston Dynamics in a deal valuing the robotics company at $1.1 billion .

Boston Dynamics already sells Spot, a four-legged robot used for industrial inspections, and Stretch, a wheeled, single-armed robot designed to unload boxes from trucks and shipping containers.

Hyundai has deployed Spot robots at its facilities for inspections and predictive maintenance.

It has also said Spot would inspect vehicle exteriors in the weld shop at its Georgia Metaplant , which builds the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 EVs.