Supply area
Despite the car crisis: Bosch expects slight growth
Weakening economy, attractive competition, job cancellations: Behind Bosch there are difficult months. Now the supplier giant expects a little more sales – but is still under pressure.
Despite the crisis in the automotive industry, Bosch again expects slight growth in its supplier area in the current year. The sales plus is expected to amount to almost two percent, as the company announced at the IAA Mobility’s car facility in Munich. Despite a worldwide stagnating vehicle production, weak demand, and delays in electromobility and automated driving are growed.
Last year, sales of the supplier division fell by 0.7 percent to 55.8 billion euros. The largest Bosch business area accounts for more than 60 percent of total sales of a good 90 billion euros.
Bosch boss: have to reduce costs
In addition to classic products such as drives, safety systems, steering and braking systems as well as sensors, Bosch also supplies car manufacturers with high-performance computers and software. You deliver the hardware that is tailored to the software – and have a unique selling point. “Bosch can do both: software and hardware,” said Bosch boss Stefan Hartung. “Without demanding hardware, even the smartest car does not move a single millimeter”.
The change towards software -driven mobility will probably further increase the pressure on the margins. Therefore, the costs have to be reduced in all areas.
The crisis recently struggled with the world’s largest car supplier from Gerlingen near Stuttgart. In many areas, the group is only partially competitive. And even in the other business areas that offer heating, household appliances and power tools, things are not going smoothly. That is why Bosch has had a number of savings programs since the end of 2023. Thousands of jobs are to be eliminated worldwide in the coming years – many of them in the supply area in Germany.
dpa
Source: Stern
