Tough Times for the German Robotics and Automation Sector: Industry Association Forecasts a 9% Revenue Drop in 2025

“Structural reasons including TOO MUCH AUTOMOTIVE DEPENDENCE are behind it,” says chairman Dr. DIETMAR LEY. In a press release, German industry association VDMA Robotics + Automation (VDMA R+A) predicts a 9 percent decline to 13.8 billion euros in turnover for the sector. This means that this industrial sector would show negative figures for the second year in a row, as it closed last year, 2024, with a minus of 6 percent. The overall conclusion is that the German robotics and automation industry is losing competitiveness, something that worries Dr. Ley a lot:
“The sales trend in the robotics and automation industry calls for action,” says the VDMA R+A chairman in a comment. “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.”
What Dr. Ley has to say as the chairman of this industry association is of great significance. The entire VDMA represents 3,600 German and European companies in mechanical and plant engineering, of which the VDMA Robotics + Automation section under the VDMA umbrella has more than 420 member companies: suppliers of components and systems from the areas of robotics, automated solutions and machine vision.
In the press material, Dr. Ley further claims that the cyclical and structural weaknesses in order intake were also evident in 2024, with a 16 percent decrease domestically compared to the previous year. The growth stimulus from abroad also faltered and showed a decline of 2 percent. The only bright spot for the German robotics and automation industry was exports to the eurozone, where order intake rose by an impressive 44 percent in 2024. In contrast, foreign demand, excluding European countries, was 13 percent lower than the previous year's figure.
"Companies in the German robotics and automation industry must focus on their own competitiveness," says Dr. Ley. "The priority is to accelerate innovation. More flexibility is also needed to respond more quickly to customer requirements and to differentiate ourselves from competitors abroad. Finally, we also need to bring costs down to a competitive level."