According to the International Federation of Robotics, the automotive industry employs the highest concentration of robots in manufacturing facilities worldwide. Stock in operation reached an all-time high of roughly one million items.
Almost a third of the three million devices installed worldwide are used in the automotive industry. According to Marina Bill, president of the International Federation of Robotics, “the car sector effectively pioneered automated manufacturing.” Currently, robots are crucial in making the switch from internal combustion engines to electric power in this sector of the economy. Robotic automation aids automakers in adapting to radical shifts in production practises and technologies.
The density of robots is an important indicator of the degree of automation in the world’s leading economies in the production of automobiles. By 2021, the Republic of Korea would have 2,867 industrial robots for every 10,000 workers. Following the United States (1,457 units), Germany (1,500 units), and Japan (1,422 units) per 10,000 workers, Japan ranks last.
China is the leading robot consumer in auto industry
China, the world’s largest automaker, is trailing Japan in robot density with 772 units per million. In 2021, new robot installations in China’s automobile industry nearly doubled to 61,598 units, accounting for 52% of the total 119,405 units installed in factories around the world.
Politicians’ lofty goals for EVs are driving investment in the sector. In an effort to reduce air pollution, the European Union has announced plans to ban the sale of polluting vehicles by the year 2035. By 2030, the federal government of the United States has set a goal of achieving a 50% market share for sales of electric vehicles. In China, all newly sold vehicles will need to be powered by “new energy” by 2035. Half of them must be hybrids and the other half must be electric, fuel cell, or plug-in varieties.
When it comes to final assembly and finishing, most automakers who have already invested in traditional “caged” industrial robots for basic assembling are now also investing in collaborative applications. Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the automobile aftermarket supply chain are slower to fully automate. This may change, though, as robots continue to shrink in size, increase in flexibility, become less complicated to program, and require fewer resources to operate.
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