Maxon Motor (maxon group)
Table of Contents

⚠ Disclaimer: This entry may be incomplete, out of date, or inaccurate. It is AI-maintained on a best-effort basis. Do not rely on it as a sole source — verify claims independently using the sources listed below.

Summary

Maxon (maxon group) is a Swiss maker of precision DC and brushless motors, gearheads and integrated drives for robotics, medical technology, aerospace and industrial automation. It is privately owned by the Braun family and headquartered in Sachseln. Its latest published annual result is for 2024: revenue of CHF 594.7M, down 10.5% from CHF 664.4M, the second straight decline, driven by weak European demand. Management pointed to High Efficiency Joints for collaborative robots, exoskeletons and precision medical systems as growth areas. In 2026 the company announced that Eugen Elmiger will hand the CEO role to COO Andreas Richter in March 2027.

Key Facts

  • Founded: 1961
  • HQ: Sachseln, Switzerland
  • Ownership: private, Braun family; Bianca Braun succeeds Karl-Walter Braun as chair (2026)
  • Revenue (2024): CHF 594.7M (2023: CHF 664.4M); Europe CHF 294M, Americas CHF 181.8M, Asia-Pacific CHF 118.4M
  • R&D (2024): CHF 47.8M, about 8% of sales
  • Employees: 3,150 at end of 2024 (3,262 a year earlier); about 3,200 across eleven production sites in more than 40 countries per a September 2026 article
  • CEO: Eugen Elmiger (about 15 years as CEO, 35 with maxon); Andreas Richter, COO and deputy CEO since joining in 2020, takes over March 2027; Elmiger becomes vice chairman
  • SpaceLab: revenue +25% in 2024, mainly commercial space
  • Products: EC motors, GP planetary gearheads, High Efficiency Joints and High Precision Joints actuator families
  • Programs: Mars rovers (Curiosity, Perseverance) and Ingenuity; ANYbotics ANYmal partnership (2020)
  • Value chain position: component and subsystem supplier moving toward integrated joints

What It Is / How It Works

Maxon’s motors are small, slotless-winding designs known for low cogging and high efficiency, which matters where torque ripple affects precision: surgical robots, legged robots and space hardware. The price premium over commodity BLDC motors limits it to high-value applications.

Move to systems. The 2024 release says the company is shifting toward complete systems, which needs less assembly labor, and names High Efficiency Joints for collaborative robotics, exoskeletons and precision medical systems as growth potential. The Robot Report describes the robotics portfolio as 15 actuators in two families: High Efficiency Joints (integrated motor, planetary gear, electronics and encoder in an IP67 structure) and High Precision Joints (strain-wave gearbox with a high-resolution encoder). The 2026 news page lists maxon’s Hannover Messe appearance (April 20–24, 2026) covering robotics drives and functional safety; it mentions no humanoid-specific products.

Mars heritage. Perseverance and Ingenuity carry 10 maxon drives (nine EC 32 flat, one EC 20 flat); Curiosity also used maxon drives.

Notable Developments

  • 2026: CEO succession announced: Andreas Richter takes over operations in March 2027; Elmiger moves to vice chairman. (Ingenieur.de)
  • 2026-04: Hannover Messe presentation of robotics drives and functional safety. (maxon news)
  • 2025-06-25: 2024 results: revenue CHF 594.7M. (maxon)
  • 2021-02: Perseverance and Ingenuity land with maxon drives. (The Robot Report)
  • 2020-09: ANYbotics partnership. (The Robot Report)

Key People

Eugen Elmiger — CEO (until March 2027)

  • LinkedIn: not found
  • Role: CEO for about 15 years; becomes vice chairman (Ingenieur.de)

Andreas Richter — COO and deputy CEO; CEO from March 2027

  • LinkedIn: not found
  • Role: with maxon since 2020; industrial engineer with a master’s in strategic management; previously ran global production and the supply network at ABB Turbo Systems AG

Bianca Braun — incoming chair

  • LinkedIn: not found
  • Role: succeeds Karl-Walter Braun as chair, per maxon’s news page

People — Last Reviewed: 2026-10-25

Supply Chain Position

Maxon is a component and subsystem supplier selling motors and drives to robot, medical and space OEMs. ⚑ Rare earth dependency: its brushless motors use NdFeB magnets, regardless of Swiss assembly. ⚑ Component cluster: customers often pair maxon motors with strain-wave gearboxes from Harmonic Drive Systems.

Claim Verification

Claim: Revenue about $572M

Status: Refuted

Refuting / questioning sources:

Summary: Company-reported figures are used.

Claim: 100+ drives on Mars

Status: Partially verified

Supporting sources:

Refuting / questioning sources:

  • The 100+ total was not found in the sources fetched.

Summary: The 10-drive figure is sourced; the cumulative total is a company marketing claim.

Claim: Boston Dynamics actuator supply

Status: Unverified

Summary: No confirming source found.

Sources

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