Robots
Kuka plans to double production in China
Kuka, the Augsburg-based high-tech company acquired by the Chinese, plans to double its robot production in Shanghai. This was announced by CEO Till Reuter on October 27, 2017 during a conference call with journalists.
"China is the largest market," said Till Reuter. According to one forecast, 40% of all industrial robots will be sold there by 2020. The expansion in China should not be at the expense of German production at the home base in Augsburg.
Kuka was acquired last year by Midea, a southern Chinese manufacturer of household appliances and air conditioning systems. Kuka's main business is the production of industrial robots as well as the automation of industrial plants. However, there are problems in this area. After record orders last year, the division is finding it difficult to process orders on time. There have been costly delays in several projects - pre-tax profit in the third quarter fell by 75% year-on-year to 6.3 million euros. In September 2017, the Executive Board had already replaced the division's two managing directors; Reuter spoke of a "fresh start".
Otherwise, Kuka's business is performing as expected this year. The company expects strong sales growth of 12% to 3.3 billion euros. New orders increased by 5.8% to just under 2.8 billion euros in the first nine months.
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