Car showrooms could soon have a new member of staff greeting customers and answering questions. But they won’t be wearing a shiny suit or offering you the latest finance deal – they could be robots .

Chinese car maker Chery, the company behind Omoda and Jaecoo, is pushing into humanoid robotics with a new brand called AiMoga, using technology developed for its cars to build robot assistants for showrooms, hospitals, shopping centres and even home life.

I met the robots at Chery’s International Business Summit at the company’s headquarters in Wuhu, China. They also had a role at the Auto China 2026 motor show in Beijing, where they greeted guests, interacted with visitors and helped bring a bit of theatre to the stand.

Chery says the idea is not only to show off a bit of futuristic tech, but to take the know-how gained from making cars and apply it to service robots that can be used in the real world.

Robot police will soon be directing traffic in China and could also be issuing parking tickets (Steve…