According to manufacturingdigital.com, the United States overtook Japan in industrial robot installations in 2025, driven by rapid automation adoption in food processing and logistics sectors — a shift underscored by Japan’s 19% decline in installations to 36,219 units.
Regional Shifts in Robot Deployment
Japan fell from second to third place globally in robot installations, with its total dropping 19% to 36,219 units. Meanwhile, Mexico recorded a 7% decline to fewer than 5,200 units — its third consecutive year of falling demand. Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed in July 2024 that the company had paused its planned gigafactory in Monterrey, citing uncertainty over US tariffs.
The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) forecasts global robot installations will rise 9% to 655,000 units in 2026 and reach 806,000 units by 2029. According to the report, manufacturing relocation is reshaping regional demand patterns, particularly as firms expand capacity in high-wage economies facing acute labor shortages.
Advances in AI, machine vision, and sensing are enhancing robot capabilities, while simplified programming and integration are reducing deployment costs — enabling broader adoption across new applications and customer segments, especially in US food and logistics operations.
Corporate Automation Strategies
Nissan’s Re:Nissan turnaround plan, announced in May 2025, will reduce its vehicle plants from 17 to 10 and cut 20,000 jobs by its 2027 financial year. The company sold 3.15 million vehicles globally in its 2025 financial year, which ended in March 2026, and employs about 120,000 people.
BYD launched its US$1.1bn plant in Camaçari, Brazil, in July 2025 — its largest manufacturing facility outside Asia. Maruti Suzuki sold a record 2.42 million vehicles in its 2025–26 financial year, including 447,774 exports, and added annual capacity for 250,000 vehicles at its newly operational Kharkhoda plant, which began production in February 2025.
Hyundai Motor India’s Talegaon plant commenced production in October 2025, while Volkswagen Group delivered 8.98 million vehicles in 2025 and employed 662,900 people at year-end — ending vehicle production in Dresden, Germany, in December 2025 as part of its cost-cutting program.
Workforce and Industry Collaboration
Deloitte reported US$74.5bn in revenue for the year ending 31 May 2026 and, together with The Manufacturing Institute, estimates that 1.9 million US manufacturing jobs could go unfilled by 2033. The Manufacturing Institute runs the FAME apprenticeship scheme involving nearly 500 companies across 17 states.
Jane Heffner, Global Vice President of Channel Communication at Teradyne Robotics, became President of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) in July 2026. Founded in 1987, IFR represents more than 3,000 organisations and publishes the annual World Robotics statistics on industrial and service robots.
Source: manufacturingdigital.com
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
