Toyota plans 400,000 factory robots starting 2028, insists humans will stay

Toyota is ramping up its deployment of humanoid robots across its factories, beginning a staged rollout in 2028 that will ultimately bring machines into workplaces alongside its 18,000 veteran employees globally. The automaker's leadership has framed the shift as complementary rather than disruptive, even as the scale of the plan raises questions about long-term employment.

The Scale of Toyota's Robot Investment#

Beginning in 2028, Toyota plans to allocate $6.42 billion annually to modernize its factories with robotic systems, according to reporting from Nikkei Asia. The company intends to install 150,000 robots at its own automotive production facilities while deploying an additional 250,000 units across subsidiary companies that manufacture components and materials.

The specifics of how many of these machines will be humanoid units—as opposed to traditional industrial arms or mobile transport robots—remain unclear. The automotive industry has relied on fixed robotic arms and autonomous material handlers for decades, but Toyota is now incorporating wheeled humanoid robots into the mix.

Training Robots on Human Tasks#

Toyota has already begun placing its ELEY humanoid robots on assembly lines to learn from workers. The training process involves workers wearing specially designed "jigs" fitted to the robots' fingers, allowing the machines to observe and mimic precise manual operations required on production lines.

This hands-on instruction method suggests that the company sees value in capturing existing worker expertise and transferring it to automated systems.

The Human Coexistence Narrative#

Despite the ambitious numbers, Hiroki Nakajima, a Toyota executive vice president, told Nikkei Asia that the company envisions "a world where robots coexist with humans, rather than replacing them." This framing sidesteps direct questions about potential job loss, instead positioning robots as tools that augment rather than eliminate human labor.

Global Robot Adoption Accelerates#

Toyota's push occurs within a broader wave of factory automation. China deployed 2 million industrial robots in 2024, with Japan in second place at 450,500 units, according to the . The United States and South Korea followed with 34,200 and 30,600 robots respectively, underscoring how industrial automation is reshaping manufacturing worldwide.