"The German machine tool industry considers itself very well positioned in international competition (...)," said Franz-Xaver Bernhard, Chairman of the German Machine Tool Builders' Association (VDW), assessing the situation of his industry at the annual press conference on January 20, 2025.
In 2024, German manufacturers ranked second behind China in production and tied with China for first place in exports. Companies invest a stable 3% of their turnover in research and development. A good 50 internationally renowned research institutes are available for joint projects. However, the automotive crisis and uncertainties in the US and Chinese customer markets are weighing on the industry. In 2024, consumption of machine tools fell by 18% in Europe, the main customer market, by 12% in Germany and by 28% in Italy. China stagnated, while the US market shrank by 7%. The VDW Chairman therefore demanded that the new government set the course for more economic growth very quickly after the German parliamentary elections. Reducing bureaucracy, driving forward digitalization, lowering energy costs and taxes, improving education and renovating infrastructure are at the top of the agenda, according to him.
According to estimates by Oxford Economics, the production of machine tools in Germany will fall by 4% from 15.4 billion euros to around 14.8 billion euros in 2024.
