The Asia Pacific continues to be the number one growing region for Bosch, a global supplier of technologies and services.
Over the past ten years, the German company’s sales in Asia Pacific have more than doubled, to about €11 billion ($14.81 billion) in fiscal 2013.
“By 2020, we aim to double our sales in the region once again,” said Peter Tyroller, member of the board of management of the Bosch Group responsible for Asia Pacific since July 2013.
To support its growth and localisation targets, Bosch will have invested about €3.3 billion in the region from 2010 to 2014.
“Our investments in the coming years in Asia Pacific will remain at a high level and we will further intensify our localisation efforts,” Tyroller said.
The firm said it sees localisation as the key success factor for the continuous growth in Asia Pacific, including local manufacturing, product management, engineering and a high share of local supply.
In 2013, Bosch’s 281,000 associates generated sales of €46.1 billion.
Myanmar contribution
In Southeast Asia, Bosch has spent the past several years extending its footprint in the region where the company entered the emerging countries of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, and expanded its presence in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
In Myanmar, Bosch achieved “significant” sales revenue within the first year of its operations in the country, it said.
“With a population of over 60 million and rapid industrial development in almost every sector, Myanmar is a market of high growth potential for Bosch in Asia Pacific,” Bosch said in a statement.
Continuous investments
Bosch is present in 16 countries in Asia-Pacific with 120 locations and 52 manufacturing facilities. In 2013, Bosch focused on expanding its manufacturing capacity for automotive components by creating an Asia Pacific-wide production and engineering hub for automotive aftermarket parts in China, where also a plant and a testing facility for driver assistance and safety products was opened.
In South Korea the plant for gasoline and diesel direct injection systems expanded its capacity, and in India a new plant for innovative automotive technology was inaugurated. The company also invested in a new production facility for its Drive and Control Technology division which manufactures hydraulics components and systems. In the fast growing Southeast Asia region, Bosch extended its footprint with additional offices in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, and by opening a representative office in Myanmar.
In Vietnam, Bosch plans to invest more than €160 million over the next three years to expand its existing production site for pushbelts for continuously variable transmission (CVT) in automobiles and recently opened a new automotive research and development center.
Local market focus
Along with increasing localisation, Bosch’s main areas of strategic focus are environmental protection, energy efficiency, safety and connectivity, the company said.
In emerging markets like China, India, and Southeast Asia, Bosch said it is focusing primarily on products tailored to local customer needs. In markets such as Japan and Korea, the focus is on innovative products, services, and business models designed to meet the growing demand of customers for innovative user-friendly, connected solutions, it said.
In 2014, Bosch expects headcount requirements to increase in Asia Pacific where the company currently employs more than 73,000 associates.
By the end of this year, Bosch will have some 45,000 research and development associates worldwide on board. Of these, 17,000 will be located in the 24 research and development facilities in Asia Pacific – 2,000 more than at the start of the year.
