Nissan’s Rosslyn plant buyer is also building police robots

Chery is taking over Nissan’s former Rosslyn plant in Pretoria, but the company has another business that has little to do with cars. Its robotics division, AiMoga Robotics, is preparing for a possible stock market listing as it looks for more money to develop its humanoid robots and increase production. Zhang Guibing, who heads AiMoga and is also president of Chery International, said the company is speaking to several potential listing venues. He did not give a date for the listing or say which exchange the company is considering. Zhang is already familiar to South Africa’s automotive industry. He was in Pretoria in July when Chery formally took over Nissan’s Rosslyn plant.

Chery’s plans for Rosslyn

Chery agreed in January to buy the Rosslyn plant after Nissan operated it for around six decades. The company has committed to keeping all 692 employees at the plant and says the investment could create close to 3,000 direct and indirect jobs. Production is expected to start in the middle of 2027 with the Chery Tiggo Cross. The company plans to build about 15,000 vehicles in the second half of 2027, increasing production to 50,000 vehicles a year by the end of 2028. Chery has also said it wants to use South Africa as a base for manufacturing, exports, research and development and other operations in Africa. There is no indication that the company’s robots will be produced at Rosslyn. For now, the plant’s focus is still on getting vehicle production going again.

The robot business is moving quickly

AiMoga was incubated by Chery in January 2025. The company says it has since delivered more than 3,000 robots, with about 2,000 of those going to customers outside China. It operates in more than 60 countries and regions. AiMoga wants to take that number much higher. Its target is 10,000 robot deliveries globally next year. The company is also looking beyond factories. Earlier this year, AiMoga unveiled humanoid police robots, with about 110 already deployed in several Chinese cities. The robots are being used for traffic management, crowd guidance and public-safety campaigns.

Why put robots on the streets?

There is a practical reason behind the idea. Traffic officers spend hours outside dealing with heat, rain, vehicle pollution and moving traffic. Zhang says robots could take on some of these duties while reducing the exposure of people doing the work. He also sees possible demand in markets such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia, where high temperatures and heavy rainfall can make outdoor work difficult. AiMoga’s first bipedal humanoid robot was used in Chery dealerships before the company started looking at other public-service applications. Whether governments and businesses will pay enough for these robots is still the bigger question.

China has plenty of companies chasing the same market

AiMoga is entering a crowded Chinese robotics market. Carmakers and technology companies are investing in humanoid robots, while startups are looking for practical jobs for the machines outside factories. There is also growing interest from investors. Unitree, one of China’s better-known humanoid robot makers, saw its shares jump during its Shanghai trading debut this week. Lumos Robotics is also considering a listing next year. Zhang expects competition to remain tough, particularly on cost, and believes some companies will eventually disappear or combine with others. For AiMoga, expanding outside China is part of the plan.

The company says service and companion robots will be among its first areas of focus in overseas markets. Chery’s robotics plans do not currently appear to have a direct connection to Rosslyn. The immediate concern for the Pretoria plant is getting production started, keeping its existing workforce and reaching the production targets Chery has set. But the robotics business shows that Chery is becoming more than a car company. The group is putting money into AI, robotics and other technologies while expanding its vehicle business in markets such as South Africa. That does not mean robots are about to roll out of Rosslyn. It does mean there is another part of Chery’s business that South Africa could eventually have to pay attention to, particularly if the company starts looking for African markets, technology partners or production sites for its robotics business.