The Bosch Group is further expanding its presence in India with its first manufacturing facility for common-rail high-pressure pumps being opened in Bangalore. The new manufacturing facility is part of a comprehensive program of investment with plans to spend €325 million in capital expenditures in India by 2008. €100 million have been earmarked for the establishment and expansion of diesel production alone and new production line is capable of producing up to 1,000 common-rail diesel pumps per day.
Bosch has been manufacturing injector components for diesel systems at its Nashik location since end of 2005 and production of common-rail injectors in Nashik is planned for 2007. Bosch is the largest Indo-German company, and India's leading automotive supplier. The Bosch Group employs more than 15,000 associates in India.
"Modern diesel engines are clean and economical. They will also gain strong popularity in India," said Bosch Board of Management member Bernd Bohr at the ceremony to mark the rollout of the new high-pressure pump manufacturing facility. On average, diesel engines consume 30 percent less fuel than a comparable petrol engine as well as producing lower levels of carbon dioxide. In addition, diesel is 30 percent less expensive than petrol in India. For this reason, Bosch expects to see the diesel market share in the Indian car market to rise from its current 30 percent to more than 40 percent by 2010.
"We are well equipped to be able to accompany this growth. We have designed our new manufacturing facilities so that we can flexibly serve the requirements of automakers, especially locally based ones," Bohr said. In 2005, Bosch sold some 40,000 common-rail systems in India. In 2010, this figure is expected to be as high as 600,000 systems. "Nearly every automaker in India has now announced that it will be launching diesel cars with common-rail technology," Bohr said.
The Indian growth market: good opportunities for safe, clean, and economical technologies
India's growth curve is also reflected in business developments with the Bosch Group generating sales of €570 million with customers in India during 2005. This year, the figure is expected to reach €670 million - an increase of 17 percent. If sales within the Bosch Group are included, sales of its Indian companies were as high as €730 million in 2005 and sales are expected to rise this year to reach €850 million. "India is one of the growth motors for our business in Asia Pacific," Bohr said.
With some 1.3 million cars manufactured in 2005, India is already Asia's fourth largest car market. Vehicle sales have been rising by an annual average of 20 percent since 2002. "Given this growth, India could be one of the world's five most important automobile markets by the beginning of the next decade," Bohr said. Only every two hundredth person in India is a car-owner at present. "But a quarter of Indian motorcyclists are planning to buy a car as the next stage of their motorisation. This alone means an additional sales potential of more than one million cars per year," Bohr said. At the same time, nearly 50,000 kilometers of the Indian road network are to be widened by 2012. The country is already the world's second largest motorcycle market, and the largest market for tractors and three-wheelers. Bosch also expects to see rapid growth in the segment of low-price vehicles costing less than €7,000. In India, growth in sales of these vehicles is especially strong, forecast at roughly 10 percent per year between now and 2015.
If these vehicles are also to comply with ever stricter emission standards, they will need to be equipped with electronically controlled direct-injection systems within a short development period. "For this reason, we will not only be expanding manufacturing in India, but also development and application work for common-rail systems," Bohr said. The safety of these cars is also to be improved considerably in the next few years. With technologies such as ABS and ESP, the number of fatal skidding accidents can be significantly reduced. "As far as Bosch is concerned, we are not just onlookers of developments in India, but have been in the heart of those developments for many years," Bohr said.
Bosch subsidiary Mico: India's leading automotive supplier
Bosch has had an active presence in India for some 80 years – first via a representative office in Calcutta, and then from 1951 on via its subsidiary Mico (Motor Industries Company Limited) in Bangalore. In addition to diesel components and systems, the Mico product range includes starters and alternators, as well as control units for gasoline systems. With a production volume of 19 million units, it is the leading Indian manufacturer of spark plugs for petrol engines. With some 4,000 sales outlets and 770 workshops, Mico also runs the Indian automobile industry's largest aftermarket network.
India plays a key role in the Bosch worldwide development network. Robert Bosch India, the wholly owned subsidiary of Bosch in India, headquartered in Bangalore, is the company's largest development center outside Germany. By the end of 2006 it will employ some 3,000 associates working on software development for intelligent vehicle systems.
Worldwide, Bosch spends nine percent of its sales revenue in its Automotive Technology business sector on research and development – far more than the average in the industry. The company is also the world leader when it comes to filing patents related to the car.
Bosch media enquiries:
Chris Wakley / David Eden
Automotive PR
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7494 8050
Email: cwakley@automotivepr.com / deden@automotivepr.com
Bosch OE enquiries:
Beverley Daniels
Communications Manager
Robert Bosch Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 1895 878155
Email: beverley.daniels@uk.bosch.com
About Bosch
The Bosch Group is the world’s largest provider of automotive technology to all leading vehicle and component manufacturers.
In 2005, the company generated automotive sales of €26 billion and employs 158,000 people in this sector. The key business areas include: fuel injection technology (diesel & petrol); systems for active and passive vehicle safety (brakes, ABS, traction control, ESP, control units for restraint systems); electrical motors, rotating electrics and products for car multimedia.
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