KUKA will still deliver 800 industrial robots in China in the third and fourth quarter 2011
KUKA Robotics will still supply 800 industrial robots in China for a large international carmaker in the third and fourth quarter of 2011
27 September 2011
The company won this major order in May and June 2011. A shipment consisting of 450 robots and twenty linear units will go to one of the carmaker's Chinese joint venture partners. Another 350 robots and twenty-five linear units will be used by a joint venture partner located in a major city in southern China.
All of the industrial robots are destined for highly automated assembly lines, mainly to spot weld and transport body parts and materials for a new model. The major order is valued in the mid-double-digit million euro range.
The growth of the Chinese automotive market has been unusually strong in the past few years and it is now the world's largest car market. Industry experts continue to predict above-average growth of seven to ten percent per annum for the next few years. All of the international carmakers are thus planning to quickly expand their manufacturing facilities.
KUKA has been active in China for twenty years and has built considerable trust with its local customers, and opening its own subsidiary in 2000. "Our China strategy in the robotics area puts us on the right track to benefit from the strong market growth in the coming years," says Dr. Till Reuter, KUKA AG's CEO. "Our market leadership in the automotive segment in China and worldwide also helps."