Bosch Continues to Grow in North America

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FARMINGTON HILLS  — Bosch Group had a record-setting year in 2011 and the outlook remains positive for 2012. In fiscal year 2011, the leading supplier of technology and services achieved worldwide sales of $71.7 billion, reflecting the second highest rate of growth since 2000. Combined sales in North and South America contributed $12.8 billion or 18 percent of global sales, while Bosch’s North American operations posted $9.8 billion, an increase of 11 percent from the prior year ($8.8 billion) and the highest level of sales in the region for the past decade.

For 2012, Bosch expects its worldwide sales to grow between 3 and 5 percent, with even greater growth expected in the Americas. According to Werner Struth, chairman, president and CEO of Robert Bosch LLC and member of the Bosch Board of Management: “In 2011, Bosch achieved solid results in North America. We continue to closely monitor the economic recovery in the region as well as market trends in all of our business sectors. For the North and South American region, we forecast a near double-digit increase in sales for 2012. Bosch is expanding its business through investments to further strengthen the company.”


For the first time, as of Jan. 1, the number of Bosch associates worldwide exceeded 300,000. In the Americas, employment increased about 4 percent to nearly 35,000. North America represented 22,500 people in 2011, compared with 22,150 in 2010.
 By the end of 2012, the number of associates worldwide is expected to grow to approximately 315,000. “As businesses compete to attract, hire and retain the best talent,” Struth said.

Energy efficiency underscores growth in business sectors
 with a continued global focus on environmental protection and energy efficiency, more than 40 percent of Bosch’s 2011 global sales and about half of its research and development expenditure were devoted to technologies that helped achieve these objectives. In 2011, Bosch achieved sales of $2.1 billion with systems harnessing renewable energy – this represents an almost fourfold increase in sales over the past five years.

In North America, Bosch’s Automotive Technology business sector recorded sales of $6.3 billion in 2011, compared with $5.6 billion in 2010, a 13 percent increase. With the automotive industry continuing its recovery, Bosch’s growth remains strong as a leading provider of technologies that increase fuel efficiency, reduce emissions, and improve vehicle safety and comfort. With U.S. vehicle sales in 2020 estimated to reach 17.8 million units, Bosch predicts that more than 90 percent of those vehicles will have an internal combustion engine as the primary powertrain option. Vehicles equipped with gasoline direct injection engines will represent 8.8 million; gasoline port-fuel-injected engines, 2.6 million; diesel, 1.8 million; hybrid electric vehicles, 3.0 million; and plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, 1.6 million.
In the U.S., the number of brands offering diesel passenger cars is expected to more than double by 2015, and Bosch wants to participate in this growth with its clean diesel systems.