China’s Unitree Robotics, known for its affordable humanoid robots and robot dogs, has made another surprising move. CEO Wang Xingxing personally unveiled a mass-produced manned mecha called GD01 today, claiming to be the world’s first manned robot to enter mass production. It can not only walk on two legs, but also transform into a four-legged mode for use as a civilian vehicle. The debut of this product means that Yushu has officially entered the new field of “manned vehicles” from the production of humanoid robot bodies. It is not a concept display, but a mass product that can already be ordered.
Tree Technology releases GD01 mass-produced manned mecha
The appearance of GD01 is visually striking. Judging from the exposed video footage, this mecha has a silver-gray metal frame, bright red armor plates on the outside of the arms and thighs, an open cockpit in the center of the chest, and a black driver’s seat inside. The operator must get into the cockpit to drive, rather than remotely control it.
In addition to being able to walk on two legs, GD01 even demonstrated the operation of destroying walls, indicating that the robot has a certain degree of strength.
According to official information, the total weight of GD01 including the driver is about 500 kilograms, and its height when upright is much more than twice that of an average adult. Its core selling point is its deformation ability: it can switch between bipedal walking mode and quadrupedal crawling mode, and the body will also tilt from a vertical attitude to a horizontal position to adapt to rough terrain. Bipedal mode simulates human walking pace, while quadrupedal mode increases stability on uneven roads. It’s not so much a humanoid robot as it is a walking vehicle.
Selling price and market positioning
The starting price of the GD01 is RMB 3.9 million, which is approximately US$537,000 to US$581,000. Calculated in New Taiwan dollars, it falls between NT$17.55 million and NT$18.88 million, making it a niche product with a very high unit price.
In addition, this mecha is currently only sold in the Chinese market, and officials have not yet announced distribution partners in the United States or the United Kingdom. Taking into account the size, weight and potential regulatory issues of the product itself (should it be classified as a vehicle or a robot? In the anime “Mobile Police”, robots are classified as “special vehicles”, that is, special vehicles), it may take some time to see GD01 walking on roads outside China in the short term.
IPO and mass production ambitions are advancing simultaneously
The timing of GD01’s release is quite intriguing. Yushu Technology is currently simultaneously advancing its plan to list on the Shanghai A-share market, with a target of raising approximately US$610 million (approximately NT$19.8 billion). If successfully listed, it will become China’s first publicly listed humanoid robot company. This also means that Yushu’s revenue model is expanding from simply selling robots to higher-priced vehicle-level products.
Looking back at Yushu’s market actions in 2026, CEO Wang Xingxing revealed at the beginning of the year that the annual target was to ship 10,000 to 20,000 humanoid robots. In comparison, GD01’s price of RMB 3.95 million is dozens of times higher than Yushu’s other products: the G1 humanoid robot is priced at US$13,500, and the H2 is about US$29,900: Obviously Yushu is trying to attack both the consumer and high-end vehicle markets at the same time.
Technical specifications still need to be completed
So far, Yushu has not announced many key technical specifications of the GD01, including battery life, autonomous driving range, single-arm/single-leg load capacity, etc. This means that the outside world’s understanding of its actual performance is still quite limited. Judging from the video display, the current sports capabilities of GD01 are still in the demonstration stage, and how far it is from real “mass production delivery” remains to be seen.
Source: KOCPC Chinese