WUHU: If Chery has its way, you will be seeing it selling humanoid robots alongside cars in its showrooms one day.
The Chinese car maker sees robots as a potential revenue stream in the future. And it's taking the first step with delivery today of the first batch of robots to its dealers from around the world. One of them has been allocated to a Malaysian dealer.
Prior to the official handover of 220 units globally today, Chery had already trailed one at a Malaysian 4S dealership in Kuala Lumpur, marking the start of a broader commercial rollout.
The robot, named Mornine and co-developed by Chery and in-house robotics team called AiMOGA, currently serves as an intelligent sales consultant. AiMOGA stands for "Artificial Intelligence with Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm".
In its current form, Mornine is able to carry out various customer service tasks such as greeting visitors, serving beverages, and assisting with test drive bookings.
It moves with a natural gait at speeds of up to one metre per second and is designed to improve its range of movements with each new version.
Chery Malaysia’s vice president, Michael Chew, revealed each unit costs about RM300,000, and it has two robots already in stock and ready for deployment to its Malaysian dealers to try out.
The robot's high price means Chery is considering leasing it out as a way to encourage greater dealer adoption.
This Mornine is bound for Malaysia.
Mornine’s origins trace back to a digital avatar created to engage younger consumers through metaverse concepts and virtual humans.
The avatar evolved into a physical humanoid robot, embodying Chery’s shift from “intelligent manufacturing” to “intelligent service.”
At the Chery Intelligent Strategy Launch in March 2025, the AiMOGA Robot was showcased in a sleek silver-grey exosuit, demonstrating its ability to interact naturally with customers, quickly drawing significant media and public attention.
Technologically, the AiMOGA Robot represents a big leap, as it combines Chery’s expertise in automotive autonomous driving, environmental perception, and electronic control systems with advanced humanoid robotics.
It integrates a multimodal sensing model that processes visual, speech, and environmental inputs to accurately interpret user commands and gestures within showroom settings.
Its bionic motion system and automotive-grade hardware enable upright walking and dexterous hand operations.
The robot is also able to collaborate with other robots on tasks such as guided tours and reception duties.
Powered by dual-core intelligent processors and advanced AI models like CheryGPT and Deepseek, the robot understands natural language semantics and generates personalised, context-aware responses.
It supports multilingual communication in 10 languages with a recognition accuracy of up to 95%. Cloud-based configuration tools enable rapid domain-specific knowledge updates, allowing the robot to become an expert adviser within an hour.
Mornine showing dexterity in pouring a bottle of drink into a container.
The AiMOGA robot completed its initial research and development phase in 2023, with a prototype debuting publicly in early 2024.
Subsequent demonstrations showcased advanced capabilities including vehicle walkaround explanations, semantic map construction, autonomous navigation, and multi-robot coordinated tasks like water delivery.
Following its commercial debut in Kuala Lumpur, the AiMOGA robot is also been heavily promoted at the ongoing Shanghai auto show, interacting with Chery’s new energy vehicle lineup and explaining advanced hybrid technologies.
Future plans include expanding its role beyond automotive retail into high-touch human-machine interaction environments such as shopping malls, exhibitions, cinemas, government service centres, and emotionally sensitive spaces like homes, schools, and eldercare facilities.
Its evolving capabilities in language comprehension, multimodal generation, and fine motor skills aim to make it a trusted companion and service assistant in everyday life.
Chery also has a robotic dog named Argos, that was showcased at the handover ceremony as well as at the autoshow.
Argos was developed as a companion for people who can't have the real thing as pets. One example are condominium managements that generally frown on residents owning pets.
Argos, the Chery robotic pooch, is doing its part to promote itself.
