North American Robot Orders Rebound in 2025 with Non-Automotive Sectors Taking the Lead

Robot orders in North America experienced a significant resurgence in 2025 after a decline in 2024, with non-automotive sectors driving growth and collaborative robots gaining increased market share.

Key Findings from A3’s 2025 Robot Order Report

According to the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), North American companies ordered 36,766 robots valued at $2.25 billion in 2025, representing a 6.6% increase in units and a 10.1% rise in revenue compared to 2024. This growth reflects renewed confidence in automation as manufacturers seek solutions for workforce shortages, reshoring initiatives, and productivity improvements.

Non-Automotive Sectors Lead the Way

For the first time, robot orders from non-automotive customers surpassed those from the automotive industry in 2025. General industries captured the majority share of units ordered throughout the year, with food and consumer goods, semiconductors and electronics, and life sciences all contributing to this broad-based momentum.

While automotive component orders remained below 2024 levels, activity from automotive OEMs showed meaningful improvement in the latter half of 2025, potentially signaling stabilization in core automotive markets heading into 2026.

Fourth Quarter Acceleration

The fourth quarter of 2025 helped boost the year’s overall performance, with companies ordering 10,325 robots valued at $579 million. These figures represent a 6.6% increase in units and an 8.7% rise in revenue compared to Q4 2024. This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth and lifted annual totals to their highest level since 2022.

Collaborative Robots Gain Market Share

Collaborative robots (cobots) continued their upward trajectory, accounting for 28.6% of all robots ordered in Q4 2025 and 14.7% of quarterly revenue. This represented 2,953 units valued at $85 million, the highest quarterly volume recorded since A3 began reporting cobots as a distinct category in Q1 2025.

For the full year, collaborative robot orders totaled 7,212 units valued at $241 million, representing 19.6% of total robots ordered in 2025 and 10.7% of total revenue. This underscores the growing importance of collaborative systems in modern automation strategies.

Outlook for 2026

A3 Executive Vice President Alex Shikany noted that the strong comeback of automotive OEMs in the second half of 2025 often serves as a leading indicator for growth in supplier and component markets. Combined with steady demand across food, electronics, and other non-automotive industries, A3 anticipates a positive outlook for robot orders in 2026.

Conclusion

The 2025 rebound in North American robot orders reflects a broadening adoption of automation across industries beyond the traditionally dominant automotive sector. With collaborative robots gaining market share and general industries driving demand, the robotics market appears to be diversifying while maintaining growth momentum heading into 2026.