Kuka robotsMunich - The two companies have signed a global strategic agreement that will give the vehicle maker exclusive rights to purchase certain industrial robots and technologies from Kuka. Although they have been working together for 25 years, the companies think that the agreement "takes the cooperation of the two companies to a new level."

"Launching a new generation of trucks, development of energy efficient urban and long-haul vehicles, and many other areas we have been successfully working on, would have been impossible without investments into the production and deployment of modern equipment," remarked Sergey Kogogin, general director at Kamaz. "Technology and engineering are the key pillars of a successful manufacturing business. For further development and expanding our market share we need assistance from the robotics leaders, and Kuka, our long-term partner, is one of them."

One of the latest Kuka installations at a Kamaz plant was introduced in 2015 at its facility in Naberezhnye Chelny. The cab welding line uses high load robots that, according to the OEM, provide "high productivity and perform with a high quality."

Russia's new vehicle market is slowly recovering after the crash of 2015. Several companies have recently voiced cautious optimism when considering the outlook for sales and production.