The VDMA Robotics + Automation Association (VDMA R+A) is voicing considerations about Germany’s robotics business. The German commerce affiliation, which falls beneath the VDMA umbrella that has 420-plus member corporations, mentioned the nation’s robotics and automation business “has lost competitiveness.”
The VDMA R+A forecast that Germany‘s robotics and automation industry will drop 9% in total turnover in 2025 to €13.8 billion ($14.4 billion U.S.). “Total turnover” is the term Germany uses to describe the amount of money a country’s companies make from gross sales over a time period. According to the affiliation, the sector closed with a 6% drop in turnover in 2024 at €15.2 billion ($15.8 billion).
Dietmar Ley, who was named chairman of VDMA R+A in November 2024, cited a number of causes for the decline.
“The sales trend in the robotics and automation industry calls for action,” he mentioned. “The current downward trend is not based solely on cyclical fluctuations in demand but has very tangible structural causes. These include, for example, the excessive dependence of the robotics and automation industry on the German automotive industry. In addition, there are weaknesses in competitiveness that business and politics must address with consistent reforms.”
VDMA R+A mentioned these structural weaknesses have been evident in 2024. It pointed to a 16% lower domestically in contrast with 2023.
Growth stimuli from overseas additionally faltered, exhibiting a decline of two%. The solely shiny spot for the German robotics and automation business was exports to the eurozone, with incoming orders rising by a powerful 44% in 2024, famous VDMA. The eurozone is a foreign money union of 20 member states of the European Union which have adopted the euro as their major foreign money.
By distinction, the Frankfurt, Germany-based group mentioned international demand excluding the eurozone nations was 13% beneath the earlier yr’s determine.
“Companies in the German robotics and automation industry need to focus on their own competitiveness,” acknowledged Ley. “The priority is to accelerate innovation. More agility is also needed to respond more quickly to customer demands and to set ourselves apart from competitors abroad. Finally, we also need to bring costs down to a competitive level.”
In June 2024, the VDMA warned that rising competitors from China was weighing by itself robotics ecosystem. “Many Chinese suppliers have grown strongly in their home markets and are now pushing into Europe,” the group mentioned on the time.
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VDMA chair requires reforms
Ley additionally referred to as for a decided reform agenda from politicians.
“With a view to fierce global competition, Germany can no longer afford disadvantages such as disproportionate regulation and excessive costs,” he asserted. “The economy needs reliable framework conditions in Germany that support, not hamper, growth. Only then robotics and automation could thrive again.”
“All long-term growth trends for our innovative industry remain intact. We now have to set the right course,” Ley confused.
Germany just isn’t alone in robotics slowdown
![a chart showing industrial robots orders in North America over the years.](https://www.therobotreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2024-NA-industrial-robot-sales.jpg)
A3 mentioned industrial robotic gross sales have been flat in North America in 2024. Credit: Steve Crowe
Germany isn’t the one nation to see its main robotics business see a slowdown. China, the world’s largest industrial robotics marketplace for 10-plus years, anticipated its industrial robotic gross sales to say no for the primary time in 5 years in 2024.
The nation’s complete industrial robotic deliveries reached an estimated 300,000 items, down 5% from 2023, based on Shenzhen Gaogong Industrial Institute (GGII). The GGII mentioned the decline was because of the “obviously tightening demand” from the manufacturing business, particularly the automotive and renewable vitality sectors.
After file back-to-back years in 2021 and 2022 throughout the top of the COVID-19 pandemic, industrial robotic gross sales in North America noticed a big decline in 2023 and basically flat progress in 2024, based on the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). At the current A3 Business Forum, the commerce group mentioned it expects industrial robotic gross sales in North America to have a gradual begin to the yr earlier than rebounding within the second half of 2025.
Jeff Burnstein, president of A3, not too long ago wrote an open letter to President-elect Donald Trump, saying automation is vital to reshoring manufacturing to the U.S. Burnstein beneficial that the federal authorities work with the robotics business to develop a method to successfully compete economically and for nationwide safety. This message was re-iterated a number of occasions on the A3 Business Forum.
It will probably be fascinating to learn the International Federation of Robotics’ (IFR) “World Robotics” report when it turns into out there later this yr. The annual report dives into the variety of industrial robots working in factories around the globe.
For 2023, the IFR mentioned there have been 4,281,585 robots working in factories worldwide, which was a ten% enhance from 2022. By area, 70% of all newly deployed robots in 2023 have been put in in Asia, 17% in Europe, and 10% within the Americas.
![a chart from the IFR showing the world's leading industrial robotics markets.](https://www.therobotreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/leading-robot-markets-2023.jpg)
Credit: IFR “World Robotics Report 2024”