The automotive industry accounted for the largest number of robots working in factories around the world: Operating inventory hit a new record of about 1 million units, accounting for about one-third of the total installed across all industries.

Robot density in the automotive industry

Robot density is a key indicator of the current level of automation in the top car-producing economies: in South Korea, 2,867 industrial robots will be operated per 10,000 employees in 2021. Germany was second with 1,500 units; This is followed by the United States, which has 1,457 units per 10,000 workers; Japan has 1,422.

China, the world’s largest automaker, has a robot density of 772 units, but is catching up fast: New robot installations in the Chinese auto industry will almost double to 61,598 units in 2021, accounting for 52 percent of the global robot total; A total of 119,405 units were installed at plants worldwide.

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Electric vehicles drive automation

Ambitious targets for electric vehicles are forcing the car industry to invest: the European Union has announced plans to end the sale of air-polluting cars by 2035. The US government aims to achieve a voluntary target of 50% market share of electric vehicle sales by 2030, and all new cars sold in China must run on “new energy” by 2035. Half of them must be electric, fuel cell or plug-in hybrid vehicles, and the remaining 50% are hybrids.

Most automakers that have already invested in traditional “cage” industrial robots for basic assembly are now also investing in collaborative applications for final assembly and finishing tasks. Secondary auto parts suppliers, many of which are smes, have been slow to fully automate. However, this is expected to change as robots become smaller, more adaptable, easier to program, and less capital intensive.