A 22-year-old contractor has been killed at a Volkswagen factor in Germany after a stationary robot he was helping to set up grabbed and crushed him to death against a metal plate.

VW spokesman Heiko Hillwig confirmed the man died on Monday at the plant in Baunatal, about 100 kilometres north of Frankfurt.

Robots put together a car at a Toyota factory in Australia. Credit:Paul Rovere

He said initial conclusions indicate that human error was to blame, rather than a problem with the robot, which can be programmed to perform various tasks in the assembly process.

He said it normally operates within a confined area at the plant, grabbing car parts and manipulating them.