STUTTGART, Germany and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – The Bosch Group has set up a new subsidiary, called Robert Bosch Vietnam Co. Ltd., located in Ho Chi Minh City. The company also announced its first investment in Vietnam into a high tech production facility for push-belts used in vehicles with Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT).
By 2015, Bosch Group’s total investment in Vietnam is expected to approximately $78 million with a total of 800 associates. After the introduction of favorable laws and regulations for foreign investors in Vietnam, Bosch is the first German company to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary to carry out import-export activities in Vietnam.
"Vietnam is an increasingly attractive market providing excellent opportunities for Bosch products", said Dr. Rudolf Colm, member of the board of management responsible for the business activities in Asia Pacific.
The Bosch Group has been present in Vietnam since 1994, through its two representative offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and received the license to set up Robert Bosch Vietnam Co. Ltd. in December 2007. With the establishment of the Bosch subsidiary in Vietnam, the Group will be able to further expand its business activities in the country.
The next milestone after the establishment of the subsidiary is the investment in a high tech production facility, which is to be situated at Long Thanh Industrial Zone, Dong Nai Province. The plant will occupy a land area of 160,000 sq meters. This facility will manufacture push-belts for CVT that can be fitted into the engines of vehicles ranging from sub-compact cars to sports utility vehicles with diesel, gasoline or hybrid engines.
The assembly of push belts will start from July 2008 while the construction of the production facility at the actual site takes place. The building works for this production facility are expected to be completed by end of 2009. During its first year of operation, the plant will produce up to 100,000 push belts. This output is projected to increase to an annual 2.3 million units by 2015.
The push-belts have only been manufactured at one other Bosch location to date – Bosch-Van Doorne’s Transmissie in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Vietnam will now be the second CVT push-belt production location of the Bosch Group worldwide.
