auto parts supplier
Bosch overcomes corona low and expands business
Stefan Hartung is worried about rising raw material prices. Photo: Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The bottleneck in semiconductors and high raw material prices are having a negative impact on business at Bosch. However, sales and earnings increase. The new head of the Swabian group is committed to the Brussels climate goals.
Regardless of the chip crisis, the Bosch technology group has overcome the corona low and expanded its business again. As the automotive supplier announced on Wednesday in Gerlingen near Stuttgart, group sales rose last year by ten percent to 78.8 billion euros.
According to preliminary figures, the operating profit grew to 3.2 billion euros after 2 billion euros previously. Bosch exceeded its own forecasts and made up for the dip in sales and earnings from the previous year, which was characterized by corona-related lockdowns and the auto crisis.
The new Bosch boss Stefan Hartung made it clear that the supply bottlenecks in semiconductors are far from over. “This concerns us in all sectors, right down to consumer goods.” Normalization is not expected until next year. Rising prices for raw materials also raised concerns.
Bosch is expanding its own semiconductor production in Dresden, Reutlingen and in Penang, Malaysia, and is investing around 400 million euros this year alone, said Hartung. He also welcomed the new initiative by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to invest billions in strengthening the European chip industry.
According to the information, around one billion euros will flow into microelectronics and electromobility at Bosch in 2022. In the current year, the group expects a further increase in sales, but does not quantify this.
Bosch stands by the “Green Deal”
Hartung made it clear that Bosch supports the EU’s climate goals anchored in the so-called Green Deal “without any ifs or buts”. With the Green Deal, the EU countries want to become climate-neutral by 2050. “A large part of our business still consists of combustion systems for diesel and gasoline engines as well as for gas heaters,” said Hartung. However, the business with alternatives is already up and running, and electromobility is already generating billions in sales.
The Swabians entered the equipment business for battery production last year. “Together with Volkswagen, we are planning to industrialize the manufacturing processes for battery cells in the next few years,” said Hartung. The aim is to become a leading European provider. Bosch and the VW software subsidiary Cariad are also working together to develop self-driving cars.
Hartung, who moved to the top of the group at the turn of the year, said that in view of the changes in the automotive industry and in other areas, not all jobs at Bosch could remain as they were. Personnel manager Filiz Albrecht explained that around 2,800 people had already switched to other positions within the group. At the end of last year, the technology giant employed around 401,300 people worldwide, which was 6,700 more than a year earlier. The number of employees in Germany remained stable at 131,400.
In addition to components for the automotive industry, Bosch also manufactures household appliances, power tools, and industrial and building technology. The non-profit Robert Bosch Foundation owns 94 percent of the company.