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Bosch plans to invest big in more R&D in China
By Jin Jing |
June 20, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ROBERT Bosch GmbH plans to invest significantly more funds to further strengthen its research and development in China to maintain strong growth in the Asia Pacific region.
The auto parts supplier plans to spend 3.2 billion euros (US$4.5 billion) on its global R&D for automotive technologies this year. Between 5 and 8 percent of the investment will go to China, according to Bernd Bohr, chairman of the Bosch Automotive Group.
"China is definitely among the top five countries for Bosch in R&D spending," he said.
Last year, more than 10 percent of Bosch's automotive business was generated in China.
"We need to be close to customers not only for the production but also for the engineering," said Bohr. "This means developing innovations specifically for emerging markets where middle-class products are popular (and) generally cost 30 to 60 percent less than in advanced economies."
"The development times for Chinese and Indian OEMs are much shorter and the only way to address this is to have a local team to work with a local customer," he told reporters at a press briefing in Boxberg, Germany.
Bosch expects the sales revenue of its automotive business will grow around 10 percent to more than 30 billion euros this year.
The auto division also is expected to increase the number of employees from 167,000 to 177,000 this year, with most of the increase in the Asia Pacific region.
Keeping investment in China is part of Bosch's overall strategy to continue the growth in the region where shares in automotive technologies sales have more than quadrupled in 12 years to 26 percent last year, totalling at 7.4 billion euros.
Bosch has already built a strong presence in the Asia Pacific region. Nearly one-third of Bosch's 26,000 engineers for automotive technologies are located in the region, which is also home to 18 of its 51 R&D locations for auto.
In China, Bosch's auto division has developed four R&D centers with more than 1,600 engineers.
As car makers are rushing for "green" mobility, Bohr said Bosch would work on diversified technologies to continuously enhance fuel efficiency as well as on electric mobility to seize business opportunities both short-term and long-term.
"If we consider either high battery costs or limited range, there are many indications that the switch to e-mobility will take well over a decade," said Bohr.
Bosch expects that diesel systems in China, which are used in commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses, will have an annual growth of 25 percent from this year to 2017 as China implements tighter emissions regulations.
Through its joint venture UAES, the company has 100 engineers developing electric drive technology for Chinese auto makers, Rolf Bulander, president of Bosch's gasoline system, told Shanghai Daily.
Local small-scale series production of power electronics and electric motors has also begun. The company has also built an all-electric demonstration vehicle for its Chinese customer.
"The Chinese governments is subsidizing hybrid and electric vehicles technologies in an attempt to speed up the adoption of these vehicles. We feel there are good market opportunities for us in this," said Bulander.
Globally, Bosch expects annual sales for its common-rail diesel injection system to increase 10 percent by 2015 and sales for its gasoline injection system to triple between 2010 and 2013.
By 2013, Bosch will start series production of core components for 12 auto makers in 20 different projects, involving electric motors and battery technology.
Every year, Bosch invests 400 million euros on power train electrification, according to Bulander.
The auto parts supplier plans to spend 3.2 billion euros (US$4.5 billion) on its global R&D for automotive technologies this year. Between 5 and 8 percent of the investment will go to China, according to Bernd Bohr, chairman of the Bosch Automotive Group.
"China is definitely among the top five countries for Bosch in R&D spending," he said.
Last year, more than 10 percent of Bosch's automotive business was generated in China.
"We need to be close to customers not only for the production but also for the engineering," said Bohr. "This means developing innovations specifically for emerging markets where middle-class products are popular (and) generally cost 30 to 60 percent less than in advanced economies."
"The development times for Chinese and Indian OEMs are much shorter and the only way to address this is to have a local team to work with a local customer," he told reporters at a press briefing in Boxberg, Germany.
Bosch expects the sales revenue of its automotive business will grow around 10 percent to more than 30 billion euros this year.
The auto division also is expected to increase the number of employees from 167,000 to 177,000 this year, with most of the increase in the Asia Pacific region.
Keeping investment in China is part of Bosch's overall strategy to continue the growth in the region where shares in automotive technologies sales have more than quadrupled in 12 years to 26 percent last year, totalling at 7.4 billion euros.
Bosch has already built a strong presence in the Asia Pacific region. Nearly one-third of Bosch's 26,000 engineers for automotive technologies are located in the region, which is also home to 18 of its 51 R&D locations for auto.
In China, Bosch's auto division has developed four R&D centers with more than 1,600 engineers.
As car makers are rushing for "green" mobility, Bohr said Bosch would work on diversified technologies to continuously enhance fuel efficiency as well as on electric mobility to seize business opportunities both short-term and long-term.
"If we consider either high battery costs or limited range, there are many indications that the switch to e-mobility will take well over a decade," said Bohr.
Bosch expects that diesel systems in China, which are used in commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses, will have an annual growth of 25 percent from this year to 2017 as China implements tighter emissions regulations.
Through its joint venture UAES, the company has 100 engineers developing electric drive technology for Chinese auto makers, Rolf Bulander, president of Bosch's gasoline system, told Shanghai Daily.
Local small-scale series production of power electronics and electric motors has also begun. The company has also built an all-electric demonstration vehicle for its Chinese customer.
"The Chinese governments is subsidizing hybrid and electric vehicles technologies in an attempt to speed up the adoption of these vehicles. We feel there are good market opportunities for us in this," said Bulander.
Globally, Bosch expects annual sales for its common-rail diesel injection system to increase 10 percent by 2015 and sales for its gasoline injection system to triple between 2010 and 2013.
By 2013, Bosch will start series production of core components for 12 auto makers in 20 different projects, involving electric motors and battery technology.
Every year, Bosch invests 400 million euros on power train electrification, according to Bulander.
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