Growth Opportunities in the North American Autonomous Off-highway and Agricultural Robotics Equipment Industry

Growth Opportunities in the North American Autonomous Off-highway and Agricultural Robotics Equipment Industry

The automation of off-highway equipment has experienced rapid development in the past 3 years. Globally, the total amount of autonomous off-highway equipment in operation more than doubled to reach approximately 1,700 units in 2022, from approximately 800 in 2021.

North America is one of the major off-highway automation hubs, with several pilots in place and a degree of commercial adoption that has attracted autonomous solution providers, startups, and suppliers to cater to customer bases in mining, urban construction, and high-value crop plantations.

As the demand for process automation increases in construction and agriculture, Frost & Sullivan expects increasing adoption of autonomous equipment starting with smaller machinery segments in the short term, and later leaning into larger machinery. With a total off-highway equipment volume (in operation) of approximately 7.9 million units, the United States holds strong potential to become a global leader in terms of the autonomous equipment market. While the US stakeholders across all off-highway application areas (including construction, mining, and agriculture) are expected to ramp up the adoption of autonomous solutions, Canada is expected to become a key target market for autonomous mining solutions.