Corporate Leadership

Three years ago, we formulated our vision. We want to take advantage of our global opportunities and drive forward our company’s development. We have thus formulated our three main strategic objectives accordingly:  

 

• Internationalization – we shall continue to press ahead with expanding our business worldwide, thereby further strengthening our international presence.  
• Diversification – we shall continue to balance out our sectoral sales structure. This means taking full advantage of our opportunities for growth in automotive technology, but at the same time growing by above-average rates in consumer goods, building technology, and industrial technology. In doing so, we shall concentrate on areas of business that fit our technological competence – this is what we call focused diversification.
• Innovation – We shall focus our innovative strength on technology that is “Invented for life.” We see significant economic opportunities arising with the attention given to ecological needs, since these needs require more, not less, technology.

Megatrends present a challenge for our innovative strength, while at the same time offering a wealth of opportunities. Environmental protection, globalization, and dwindling resources all open up opportunities for profitable growth worldwide. When it comes to climate protection, we can score points with our technical expertise and generate real added value for customers through our products.

Having said that, the emerging markets – particularly in Asia – are a source of increasing competitive pressure, and we are not alone in feeling the crunch in established markets. Demographic changes confront our HR management with new challenges. They are faced with the task of encouraging a sufficient number of young people to take an interest in technical or scientific jobs, of attracting this upcoming talent to the company, and of ensuring that associates of all ages have access to ongoing training programs.

We already benefit from a broad-based international presence. Asia Pacific was once again the growth driver in 2007, with sales there up 17 percent in local currency. Since 1995, our sales in this region have increased fivefold, and in the Americas more than threefold. By 2015, we want these two regions together to account for half of our global business volume and will, therefore, push ahead with the expansion of manufacturing locations in these regions.

At the same time, we also want to secure our existing locations, since the strategy of an international development and production network like the one at Bosch cannot be based solely on locations that offer special cost advantages. So it will be important to remain in close physical proximity to the engineering centers of our major customers, as well as to scientific research institutes in Europe. 

Bosch offers eco-friendly products in all its business sectors. In the area of sustainable mobility, these include technologies that help further reduce the fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions of vehicles. Energy efficiency and climate protection are also shaping the Industrial Technology and the Consumer Goods and Building Technology business sectors.

Green technologies, such as photovoltaics, wind power, or alternative heating systems, all promise to be in even greater demand in the future, thereby becoming a key growth driver for the Bosch Group. In 2008, Bosch acquired the majority stake in ersol Solar Energy AG, one of the leading German solar-cell manufacturers. The Group aims to use this acquisition to get a stronger foothold in the market for renewable energies. To find our way into these new markets and expand our expertise accordingly, we founded a venture capital company in 2007 with a starting capital of 200 million euros. It will invest two-thirds of its capital in start-ups and one-third in sector funds. We are thus already active in areas of technology that will be relevant for Bosch in ten to twenty years’ time.