Bosch Further Expands Activities In India

Bosch sales in India increase by nearly 20 percent in 2007, to roughly 815 million euros

Mumbai – Bosch continues to grow in India. Sales of the Bosch Group with customers in India will increase by nearly 20 percent in 2007, to roughly 815 million euros. Including exports, sales of the Bosch companies in India will come to nearly one billion euros. "India's dynamic growth is clearly reflected in our company's performance," said Dr. Bernd Bohr, member of the Bosch board of management and chairman of the Automotive Group, at a press conference in Mumbai.

Headcount is also increasing. At the beginning of 2008, the Bosch Group workforce in India will total more than 18,000 associates, which is roughly ten percent more than in the previous year. "Our response to India's strong economic growth and increasing motorization is to expand local development and manufacturing," Bohr continued.

"Our main focus here is on technologies for environmental protection and accident prevention." From 2005 to 2008, the company will have invested more than 325 million euros in the country, and a further 170 million euros are to be invested by 2010. Apart from the expansion of common-rail diesel production, this money will also be invested in the manufacturing of gasoline systems components from 2008. Moreover, it is planned to start local ABS production at the end of 2008, and the production of electronic control units in 2009.

In the future, Bosch will express this heightened commitment to India in the names of its local companies. Accordingly, the board of directors of the Bosch subsidiary Motor Industries Company Limited (Mico) resolved on December 6, 2007, to change the company's name from Mico to Bosch Limited. The Bosch Group holds a roughly 70 percent stake in Mico. The change in the company's name is subject to the approval of the shareholders' meeting and of the authorities.

In addition, the Mico board of directors has resolved a change in the company's management team. From February 1, 2008, the managing director of the future Bosch Limited will be V K Viswanathan, who is already a member of the Mico management team. On the same date, Dr. Albert Hieronimus, who has headed up Mico for four years, will become chairman of the board of management of Bosch Rexroth AG in Lohr am Main, Germany. At the same time, he will take over the post of chairman of the board of directors of Bosch Limited from Hubert Zimmerer, who has held this function since 1996 and was managing director of Mico from 1974 to 1978. Hubert Zimmer has been closely connected with the company for more than 45 years, and was a member of the Bosch board of management from 1992 to 1999 and a member of the supervisory council from 2000 to 2003.

Apart from standardizing its companies' names, Bosch also intends to pool and strengthen its social activities in India. With this in mind, the Bosch India Foundation will be established in 2008. Its main brief will be to promote education, health, and charitable projects. "For us, India is more than just a dynamic sales market. For many years now, we have also devoted particular attention to social and ecological concerns," Bohr said.

Safe, clean, and economical technologies for the Indian growth market
With the Auto Expo in New Delhi just a few weeks away, Bernd Bohr underlined how crucially important it was that the country's development should be sustainable. The rapid growth of automotive production in India, which is likely to double from its current 2.2 million to 4.4 million units by 2010, poses a great challenge for the country. "Bosch is supporting India's rapid motorization with products and developments that further reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions," Bohr said.

To comply with ever stricter emissions standards in India, which are following the lead set by Europe, Bosch offers both efficient gasoline injection systems and advanced common-rail systems. Bosch opened its first manufacturing facility for high-pressure common-rail pumps in 2006. Since August 2007, the company has also manufactured injectors for this injection system locally.

This year, as many as 100,000 common-rail systems will be produced by Bosch in India. In 2010, this figure will already be as high as some 1.3 million, and it is expected that the two-million mark will be reached in 2013. Increasing volumes are also to be seen in all the other products Bosch manufactures in India. By 2010, 1.5 million starters and two million alternators will be manufactured in India, compared to around half a million of each in 2006. In 2010, a good 4.7 million Indian vehicles will be fitted with Bosch brakes – 1.6 million more than this year.

Alongside environmental protection, accident prevention is an urgent priority on Indian roads. To satisfy this need, Bosch is promoting advanced braking systems in India. In 2006, 76 percent of all new cars worldwide were fitted with the ABS anti-lock braking system, but only 8 percent in India. This figure is set to double by 2012. Bosch is preparing for this increase in demand, and plans to roll out ABS production in the country at the end of 2008. "Over the long term, and as soon as there is a local market, we will launch innovations in India that go beyond ABS," Bernd Bohr says. These innovations include the ESP(r) electronic stability program.

In addition to expanding its manufacturing capacity in India, Bosch is relying above all on the development know-how of its roughly 3,000 engineers in the country. Collaborating closely with other Bosch engineers around the world, they are also working on new technologies for low-price vehicles. Between now and 2015, annual sales of these cars will grow by six percent worldwide and 13 percent in India. For Bosch, the development focus here is above all on cost-efficient management systems for gasoline and diesel engines, but also on alternators and brakes. Bosch "Value Motronic" is one example. In this new management platform for gasoline engines, intelligent software is the key to providing maximum functionality at minimum cost. In the area of low-price vehicle equipment, Bosch aims to generate global sales of a good one billion euros by 2010.

A strong local presence beyond automotive technology

It is not only in automotive technology that the Bosch Group has a strong presence in India. Mico, soon to be renamed Bosch Limited, is the market leader for both power tools and video surveillance systems. Bosch Rexroth India is a leading supplier for the mechanical engineering and power engineering industries. Bosch Rexroth hydraulic systems are already fitted in more than 20 dams and some 1,400 wind turbines across India. "In this way, Bosch is supporting India's sustainable development with safe, clean, and economical products – and this not only in the automotive technology sector," Bohr said.

Source: Bosch

Bookmark/Search this post with:

 •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •