March 11, 2026 15:54

As Technology Days open today in Lossburg and run through 13 March, Arburg has reviewed market conditions and outlined its strategy for responding to the industry downturn.
At a press conference held yesterday at the company’s headquarters, Volker Nilles spoke for the first time as the new CEO, a position that had not previously existed in the organisational structure of the German injection moulding machine maker.

Introducing the executive chosen to lead the company in the coming years, Michael Hehl, Managing Partner and spokesperson for the Management Board, stressed that Arburg, as in the past, will remain an independent family-owned company owned by the Hehl and Keinath families.

The point was reiterated by Volker Nilles (pictured)  himself: “My goal is to move Arburg on a stable and ambitious growth course and to tap into the enormous potential that I have already had the opportunity to get to know a little. The company was, is and will remain independent – i.e. not dependent on banks – stubborn – in the positive sense of the word – and always customer-oriented.” “In my first 100 days,” he added, “I will focus primarily on understanding what has made us strong and where we can become even stronger.”

It fell to Steffen Kroner, Managing Director Finance, Controlling and IT and Global HR, to deliver the unwelcome news on its 2025 results, which were again negative: consolidated sales came in at around EUR 575 million, down 4% from 2024 and far below the record EUR 875 million posted in 2022. Even so, the figure points to a degree of stabilisation compared with the 23% decline recorded in 2024. “Order intake was and continues to be weak, and we – like all other companies in the industry – remain in a challenging economic situation,” Kroner said.
As part of efforts to cut costs and streamline the organisation, headcount fell last year from 3,700 to 3,400 employees.

Tobias Baur, Managing Director Sales and After Sales, provided further detail on trends in the markets most relevant to the German group. “We are still in a phase with far-reaching and geopolitically profound, but also local political influences on the economy, which have so far prevented an upturn in the industry.”

The difficulties seen in Germany and Western Europe, with Eastern Europe performing somewhat better, contrast with a US market that was “surprisingly better than in the previous year”, despite tariffs, although North American customers “are still uncertain and cautious about investing”.
The situation in Asia, now the world’s largest market for injection moulding machines, is more complex and uneven.

By end-use sector, medical recorded slight growth in 2025, packaging declined slightly but remained broadly stable, while the electronics and electrical industry recovered, driven above all by artificial intelligence and electromobility. The large mobility segment, meanwhile, remains depressed and continues to operate in an uncertain environment.

Arburg’s response to these challenges was the launch at K 2025 of the new Allrounder Trend series, machines for standard applications designed to offer lower costs and shorter delivery times thanks to component standardisation and a newly developed dedicated assembly line. The machines are intended to respond to increasingly intense competition from Asia.
As Guido Frohnhaus, Managing Director Technology & Engineering, explained, the first Trend machines ordered at K were delivered in February.

A second response by Arburg to the new market environment is the production of some machines in Asia for the local market, while firmly retaining core technology in Germany. One example, announced yesterday, is a new range of vertical presses that will be built at the Arburg Technology Factory (ATF) in Pinghu, China, in partnership with local manufacturer Tayu Machinery.
The latter will supply the machine base, clamping unit and rotary table as a complete system, while Arburg will install at its Chinese plant the plasticising unit and machine control system, both manufactured in Lossburg. Production of the new Sino-German vertical presses will begin in the autumn.

Pinghu already assembles the entry-level machines in the Golden Electric series for the regional market, and assembly of the Trend machines is also scheduled to start there by the end of the year.

In the opening photo, from left: Tobias Baur, Managing Director Sales and After Sales; Michael Hehl, Managing Partner; Volker Nilles, CEO; Guido Frohnhaus, Managing Director Technology & Engineering; and Steffen Kroner, Managing Director Finance, Controlling, IT and Global HR.

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