Bosch Group aims to increase its sales in the Asia-Pacific region to 25% of global revenues by 2015, from 16% at present, by placing much greater emphasis on business development in the region compared with the USA and Europe. Its sales in Asia-Pacific have grown at a double-digit rate for the last few years to reach EUR7.6bn in 2007, around 60% of which is estimated to come from the automotive sector.
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Bosch opened a new Asia-Pacific regional headquarters in Singapore in September and plans to invest S$30m on a new R&D centre in the city-state with a focus on environmentally-friendly technologies – including photovoltaic and solar power technology. In August the group acquired a major share in Germany’s Ersol Solar Energy AG, a developer and manufacturer of wafer-based silicon solar cells.
Most of Bosch’s growth in Asia-Pacific is expected to come from China, India and Thailand. The company’s sales in Thailand grew by 45% last year to THB 7.2 billion (USD 225 million), says Jochen Reik – managing director of Bosch Thailand, mostly due to strong growth in the country’s automotive industry. Around 80% of sales in Thailand are from the automotive sector, according to the company.
Bosch began producing brake systems in Thailand in 1996 and recently added an ABS facility. In 2006 it began producing diesel common rail systems at a new plant in Rayong, on the Eastern seaboard. The company is looking to Japanese automakers for much of its expansion in South-East Asia.
At present only a limited range of Bosch global products are available in the region and the company is actively studying each market with a view to broadening its product range and introducing new technologies. Mr Reik said Bosch plans to allocate EUR1.9bn between 2008-2010 for business investment and research and development in the Asia-Pacific region. Most will be spent in the automotive segment.
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