Industry: automation and robotics in the crisis year

The German robotics and automation industry is in crisis. For the current year, the industry expects its turnover to drop by 10 percent to 14.5 billion euros, as the VDMA Robotik + Automation association announced.

“The growth prospects have currently been clouded in all sub -sector by the end of the year,” said chairman Dietmar Ley. The US tariffs also contribute to this, especially because they unsettle customers through their ups and downs, as he said. In addition, competitiveness has deteriorated – especially in comparison with the competition from Asia.

If the amount of the tariffs were clear, customers could at least adjust to it, said Ley. And at least for some time, the companies in the industry usually have good chances of passing on the additional costs to customers because there are fewer domestic companies in the United States in the United States. Possibly there could even be positive catch -up effects – if there is finally clarity.

Wirkind assembly facilities

Current problem child is primarily the area of ​​assembly systems, the largest of the three sub -areas in the industry. In the current year, it is expected to go down by 15 percent to 7.7 billion euros. And Ley doesn’t expect a quick upswing here either. The area is typically relatively sluggish when it comes to cyclical developments. For the next year he sees “no growth”.

It looks much better in image processing. Here the association expects stable sales of 3.1 percent and then an upward trend. “If the customs calamities are over at some point, we expect growth next year for image processing,” said Ley.

The robotic as the third area is in between. In 2025, the industry expects a decline in sales from 5 percent to 3.7 billion. There is no forecast for the coming year.

The industry also hopes for impulses from the Automatica trade fair in Munich in around three weeks to around 40,000 trade visitors and 780 exhibitors.