Subscribe Button 1
SUBSCRIBE

Germany Robotics Industry Forecasts Declining Sales in 2025

Robotics and automation in Germany have lost competitiveness: the industry is forecasting total sales of minus 9 percent to 13.8 billion euros for 2025. Last year, companies closed with sales of minus 6 percent to 15.2 billion euros.

“The sales development in the robotics and automation industry signals a need for action,” says Dr. Dietmar Ley, Chairman of VDMA Robotics + Automation. “The downward trend is not based solely on cyclical fluctuations in demand, but now has very tangible structural causes: These include, for example, the robotics and automation industry being too dependent on the German automotive industry. In addition, there are weaknesses in competitiveness that business and politics must address with consistent reforms.” 

Incoming Orders Collapse

The economic and structural weaknesses in incoming orders were not only evident domestically in 2024, with a decline of 16 percent compared to the previous year. Growth impulses from abroad are also lacking: demand shrank by 2 percent. The only bright spot for German robotics and automation was exports to the eurozone: incoming orders from the eurozone countries rose by an impressive 44 percent in 2024. Foreign demand excluding the eurozone countries, on the other hand, was 13 percent below the previous year’s figure.

Reforms Required

“The companies in the German robotics and automation industry must focus on their own competitiveness,” says Dr. Dietmar Ley. “The priority is to speed up innovation. More agility is also needed in order to respond more quickly to customer demand and to set ourselves apart from competitors from abroad. Ultimately, we too must bring costs to a competitive level.”

Dr. Ley also demands that politicians implement a determined reform agenda: “We can no longer afford locational disadvantages such as excessive regulation and excessive cost burdens in international competition. The economy in Germany needs reliable framework conditions that support growth and do not slow it down,” he stresses. “Then robotics and automation can shine again. Because all long-term growth trends for our future industry are still intact. We must now set the right course,” stresses the VDMA trade association chairman.”

For more information: www.vdma.org

HOME PAGE LINK