FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- The falling cost of intelligent robots may help repatriate some auto production away from low-cost locations like China back to factories in Germany and North America, Magna International CEO Donald Walker says.
Rising wages in China and the cost of importing heavy components such as electric car batteries into Europe may lead carmakers to introduce more highly efficient automated manufacturing closer to home, Walker said.
Walker: "How fast do you have intelligent robotics replace manual labor everywhere in the world?"
"If you have a high labor, easy-to-ship part, it has already gone, for the most part, to a low-cost jurisdiction," Walker said about the evolution of assembly work in the car manufacturing business.
"A bigger issue is how fast do you have intelligent robotics replace manual labor everywhere in the world," Walker said in an interview at the Frankfurt auto show last week.
By 2025 the total cost of manufacturing labor is projected to fall 18 to 33 percent in countries that already deploy industrial robots, a study on advanced manufacturing technologies by the Boston Consulting Group showed. Those countries would include South Korea, China, the United States, Germany and Japan.
The battery for BYD's e6 EV on display at the Detroit auto show in January 2010.
The emergence of hybrid and electric cars means automakers have seen an increasing demand for large batteries, Walker explained.
"If you look at a battery, it is a big heavy thing to ship,” Walker said. “The things that hold the battery, the bumpers, the wheels, those are big bulky parts.”
"I think you will still see cars made where the market is,” Walker added. “The big bulky parts and a lot of the technology will probably be made locally.”
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