How Many Robots Will Toyota Deploy at Its Factories by 2028?

Toyota plans to have 400,000 factory robots running across its manufacturing network starting in 2028, backed by $6.42 billion a year in new investment, according to a Nikkei Asia report cited by Ars Technica. Of that total, 150,000 robots would go into Toyota's own automotive plants, with the remaining 250,000 deployed at group companies that supply components and materials.

The rollout is already underway in a narrower form. Toyota has begun putting its wheeled, two-handed ELEY humanoid robots on assembly lines to learn directly from the people who currently do the work, a step that puts the automaker among a small group of manufacturers testing general-purpose humanoid machines on live production floors rather than in labs.

What is Toyota actually planning to build by 2028?

The 400,000-robot figure covers two categories: 150,000 units for Toyota-branded vehicle assembly plants, and 250,000 for group-company facilities that produce parts and materials, Nikkei Asia reported, as relayed by Ars Technica. The $6.42 billion annual investment figure applies to factory upgrades tied to this robotic buildout starting in 2028. Ars Technica noted it remains unclear how many robots Toyota has already deployed in total or what share of the 400,000-unit target will be humanoid machines like ELEY versus fixed robotic arms and mobile transport robots, which have been standard on auto lines for decades.

How are workers training the ELEY robots today?

Toyota workers are teaching ELEY units to perform tasks that require precise hand movements by wearing jigs modeled on the humanoid robots' own fingers, according to the Nikkei Asia reporting cited by Ars Technica. ELEY rolls on wheels rather than walking on legs and uses two hands for manipulation tasks, a design choice that trades some of the mobility ambitions of bipedal humanoid robots for stability on a factory floor. The training approach — humans wearing robot-finger jigs to demonstrate motion — suggests Toyota is trying to transfer tacit, hands-on skill rather than simply programming fixed routines, though Ars Technica's sourcing did not detail how long that training period is expected to last or when ELEY units might work unsupervised.

Will the robots replace Toyota's 18,000 factory workers?

Toyota's veteran workforce spans 18,000 people across 60 factories worldwide, including 11 US manufacturing plants, according to Ars Technica. Hiroki Nakajima, a Toyota executive vice president, told Nikkei Asia that the company is aiming for "a world where robots coexist with humans, rather than replacing them." That framing leaves open how Toyota will manage headcount as automation scales — whether through attrition, redeployment to other tasks, or simply holding staffing steady while robots take on additional volume rather than existing jobs. Ars Technica's report did not include details from Toyota on hiring plans, layoff commitments, or which specific roles the 400,000 robots are meant to take over versus supplement.

How does Toyota's plan compare with global robot adoption?

The automotive sector has been the largest adopter of industrial robots for decades, and the numbers bear that out at a national scale. China deployed 2 million industrial robots in 2024, followed by Japan at 450,500, according to the International Federation of Robotics, as cited by Ars Technica. The United States ranked third with 34,200 new industrial robots that year, and South Korea fourth with 30,600. Those figures cover conventional industrial robots — robotic arms and mobile units — rather than humanoid machines specifically, underscoring that Toyota's humanoid push sits on top of an already robot-heavy manufacturing base in Japan.

What questions remain unanswered about the rollout?

Several basic facts about the plan are still missing from public reporting. Ars Technica flagged that it is unclear how many of the 400,000 planned robots will be humanoids like ELEY versus other robot types, and how cost-effective humanoid units will prove compared with human labor once mass production begins. The broader industry faces unresolved engineering and safety questions before humanoid robots can work alongside people at scale, including how such machines behave safely in close proximity to human co-workers on a moving assembly line. Toyota has not detailed a timeline for when ELEY's on-the-job training will conclude or how performance will be measured before wider deployment begins in 2028.