Solutions for climate protection and road safety

• Bosch Group sales in Japan expected to grow by some 3.5 per cent in 2007 to 300 billion yen (1.9 billion euro)
• Twelve per cent growth of global sales expected from six largest Japanese manufacturers

The global growth in Japanese vehicle sales will result in a positive increase in business for automotive supplier, Bosch, according to the Company.

This year alone, Bosch global sales with the six largest Japanese manufacturers will increase by more than twelve per cent.

At the Tokyo Motor Show, Dr. Bernd Bohr, chairman of the Bosch Automotive Group, commented, "Whatever drives our business forward in Japan is also positive for our business worldwide, and we aim to increase this growth further in the years to come."

Bosch expects that Japanese manufacturers will increase their global production from today's level of 23 million to an anticipated 29 million vehicles in 2015. According to Bohr, "In all main markets in the world, manufacturers can turn to Bosch as a partner.” Bosch is currently growing in Japan too with sales expected to grow by 3.5 per cent in 2007, to 300 billion yen (1.9 billion euros). Sales of Bosch automotive technology in Japan will reach 260 billion yen (1.65 billion euros) - an increase of nearly 3 per cent.

Bosch Japan: the regional company with the strongest sales in Asia Pacific
In Japan, Bosch employs nearly 7,800 people across 20 manufacturing plants and has five engineering centres – making it one of the biggest German employers in the country. In terms of sales, Japan is also the strongest market in Asia Pacific, and a hub for Bosch's Asian business activities. Its Japanese employees are part of a worldwide network of over 165,000 people working in automotive technology. Of these, nearly 23,000 work in research and development, across nearly 50 development sites worldwide.

"Wherever our Japanese customers are expanding their activities, we are already there," Bohr said. International presence is paying off as, in China for example, Bosch will grow its automotive technology business by 30 per cent in local currency terms during 2007, in India by 25 per cent and eleven per cent for Asia Pacific as a whole. Worldwide, Bosch is expected to a record four per cent growth in automotive technology up to approximately 28 billion euros (4.4 trillion yen) – which translates into a six per cent increase if currency effects are ignored.

Solutions for climate protection and road safety

The main growth opportunities for Bosch will be in the area of climate protection. "For Bosch, these tasks are both a challenge and an opportunity," Bohr said. These activities focus on promoting the global spread of economical diesel vehicles, with their low carbon footprint, as the share of newly registered diesel vehicles is expected to increase from 23 to 28 per cent by 2015. "Currently, twenty per cent of our high-pressure diesel systems are sold in Asia and America – we expect this will increase to 50 per cent by 2015," Bohr said. Evidence of this is provided by a number development projects across the world, including projects with Japanese manufacturers. There is an opportunity for ‘clean diesel’ engines, not least in view of fuel prices in Japan which have risen by ten per cent since the beginning of the year.

Bosch’s second generation gasoline direct injection systems also make a significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. This year, Bosch will sell 900,000 such systems worldwide - with this figure is likely to reach two million by 2010. "We are optimising the combustion engine further, and we are also combining it with the electric motor," Bohr said. "We have won orders for hybrid systems for gasoline and diesel engines, and are preparing for the start of production."

One of Bosch's benchmark innovations – Electronic Stability Control or ESC – is also becoming increasingly popular in Japan. Twenty per cent of newly manufactured vehicles were equipped with ESC in 2006 and this figure is estimated to increase to 50 per cent by 2012. This will bring the Japanese government closer to its target of halving the number of road deaths in the country by 2013.

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:
Jenny Hodge
Communications Manager
Robert Bosch Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 1895 838545
Email: jenny.hodge@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 2006, the company generated automotive sales of €27.2 billion and employs approximately 161,000 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.

Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch.com and www.bosch.co.uk