Industry and automotive electronics giant Bosch GmbH has added 6 percent to its global sales in FY 2007. The strongest growth was achieved in Asia—and that's why the German firm plans to in invest heavily in that region.
Overall sales reached 46.3 billion Euros (about $72 billion). While the company's overall growth was 6 percent, in Asia it grew about twice as fast. For this reason, the company said it is allocating huge budgets for its expansion in countries such as India, China, Korea and Japan. Over the next two years, Bosch plans to invest 1.9 billion Euros (about $2.9 billion) in Asia. This will include strategic acquisitions, announced Franz Fehrenbach, Bosch chairman.
Automotive electronics, Bosch's largest division, grew 4.5 percent to 28.4 billion Euros (about $43.8 billion). Growth was hampered by soft demand in the North American automotive industry. The strongest demand was seen for diesel and gasoline injection systems, which help to reduce fuel consumption. Also the demand for Electronic Stability Program (ESP) equipment was strong.
The strongest growth was seen in the industrial electronics segment which added 9.4 percent to 6 billion Euro (about $9.2 billion).
For the future, all research and development activities will have a focus on developing technologies that optimize resource and environmental utilization across all divisions, Fehrenbach announced. As an instant, he mentioned automotive electronics where Bosch has launched its new project house Lithium ion. Here, the company conducts R&D work on Li-ion batteries, which it regards as one of the core technologies for further "electrifying" the automobile. A hybrid project house is already active.
In addition, Bosch will invest more than 60 million Euros (about $92.5 million) to expand its R&D center in Abstatt near Heilbronn, creating up to 900 additional engineering jobs.