Total sales in robotics and automation will drop by at least 20% as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to new figures from the VDMA.
These figures follow an initial prediction of a 10% decline. The VDMA, however, suggests that growth prospects look positive after COVID-19.
"The current uncertainties do not allow for a precise forecast for the current year," says Wilfried Eberhardt, Chairman of VDMA Robotics + Automation. "However, the industry's turnover before the outbreak of the pandemic was better than initially assumed, as the annual statistics for 2019 show.”
Eberhardt continues, “Robotics and automation from Germany recorded the second-highest turnover to date, at 14.7 billion euros, with a slight decline of 2 percent compared to the previous year. Originally, a minus of five percent had been forecast."
