North America sees record robot sales in 2022

Driven by the resurgence in robot orders from automotive companies, the North American robotics market set all-time records in both robots sold and value in 2022. According to a report from the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), North American companies ordered 44,196 robots valued at $2.38 billion last year, representing increases of 11% and 18%, respectively, over 2021, the previous record.

More than 50 percent of sales came from the automotive industry, which ordered 23,807 robots, up from 16,752 in 2021. While orders from non-automotive industries slowed from the previous three years, unique applications continued to emerge in such industries as food services, construction and agriculture, such as robots cooking and serving food, dry walling, and even harvesting and picking.

“Although labor shortage and supply chain issues impact nearly all industries in North America, automakers’ public commitment to move to electric vehicles (EVs) has set in motion a resurgence of robot orders in this market,” said Jeff Burnstein, president of A3. “Automotive OEMs and components suppliers alike recognize that investing in robots is instrumental to the emergence of EVs as well as to manufacturing all vehicles as they compete to meet customer demand.”

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“While the numbers of robots sold to non-automotive companies isn’t as staggering as it’s been over the last couple of years, it’s clear that companies in every industry see automation as necessary for success,” Burnstein said. “We look forward to seeing more unique and increasingly easy-to-use robots that all industries can benefit from at Automate 2023 in Detroit this May.”