Volkswagen to boost its robot numbers

Volkswagen is about to place an order for a large number of industrial robots offering a lucrative prize to the successful robot vendor.  Increasingly, these robots will be used for assembly work and one robot builder may not be able to cope with all of VW's needs.

The move is likely to be repeated several times over the coming 15 years as 32,000 people are expected to leave the German vehicle builder.