The Bosch Group and Mann+Hummel Filter GmbH, have signed an agreement to establish an equal joint venture for the development and production of filter systems in India. The Bosch Group owns 50 percent of shares in the venture, divided between two of its subsidiaries; Robert Bosch Investment Nederland B.V. and the Indian Motor Industries Company Ltd. (MICO), and will be based in Tumkur, in the Indian State of Karnataka. The other 50 percent of shares is held by Mann and Hummel Filter Private Ltd. a subsidiary of Mann+Hummel GmbH.

The joint venture will develop and produce filter systems including oil, fuel, air and car-interior filters for the Indian market as well as for export. The company will also provide support to the fast growing local automotive industry in both application and original equipment. In addition, high-quality filters will be made available to aftermarket, workshops and industrial applications. Production of filters is planned to commence by mid-2006 with some 350 employees. The joint venture represents an investment of some six million euros.

Bosch has been active in India since 1922 and now owns a 60.5 percent stake in MICO, which was founded in 1951 and is the largest automotive business in the country. The company works together with 4,500 authorized dealers in about 1,000 cities throughout India. Sales of MICO in the fiscal year of 2004 increased by 23 percent compared with 2003 to some 420 million euros. MICO has some 10,000 employees in four locations in India and plans to invest 180 million euros by 2007.

Note to editors:

The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal 2004, some 242,000 associates generated sales of 40 billion euros. Set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering,” the Bosch Group today comprises a manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service network of some 260 subsidiaries and more than 10,000 service centers in over 130 countries.

The special ownership structure of the Bosch Group guarantees its financial independence and entrepreneurial freedom. It makes it possible for the company to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future, as well as to do justice to its social responsibility in a manner reflective of the spirit and will of its founder. The charitable foundation, Robert Bosch Stiftung, holds 92% of the shares of Robert Bosch GmbH. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG.

Bosch media enquiries:
Chris Wakley
Automotive PR
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Email: cwakley@automotivepr.com

Bosch OE enquiries:
Beverley Daniels
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Robert Bosch Limited
Tel: 01895 878155
Email: beverley.daniels@uk.bosch.com