STUTTGART – According to preliminary figures, the Bosch Group increased its sales by 6.2 percent in 2014, to 48.9 billion euros. After adjusting for exchange-rate effects, sales growth was 7.2 percent. Sales results were negatively impacted by exchange-rate effects of nearly 500 million euros.
The supplier of technology and services also improved its earnings in 2014. According to preliminary figures, Bosch Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) came to nearly 3 billion euros, with an EBIT margin of roughly 6.1 percent. This is roughly 1 percentage point better than the value for 2013, adjusted for one-off and extraordinary effects.
“Despite difficult economic conditions, we managed to meet our business targets for 2014,” said Dr. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. “Our innovation strategy is paying off. Our business success over the past year is proof of this. In 2014 we further improved our market position and competitiveness in many areas.” In addition, the acquisition of BSH Hausgeräte GmbH and the planned full acquisition of ZF Lenksysteme GmbH will enable Bosch to strengthen its position in the two growth areas of smart homes and automated driving.
According to preliminary figures, the Mobility Solutions – formerly Automotive Technology – business sector achieved significant sales growth in 2014. With its comprehensive portfolio of components, systems, and services, this Bosch sector was able to grow more than twice as fast as the automotive market. The major drivers of this growth were gasoline direct injection systems and high-pressure diesel injection systems, along with display instruments and infotainment systems.
In the years to come, the Bosch Group says it is aiming to seize the business opportunities that will present themselves through developments in the areas of connectivity, automation, electrification and energy efficiency, as well as through the increasing importance of emerging markets. “We want to play an active part in shaping the wide-reaching and profound changes to our market and technological environment, and we want to prepare for a connected world,” Denner said. This is particularly true of the Automotive Technology business sector, which Bosch renamed Mobility Solutions at the beginning of the year. Denner went on: “We see ourselves as a supplier of solutions for the mobility of the future, which will be automated, connected and electrified. That includes components, systems and software solutions as well as services.”
Car, train, or bicycle – in the future, it will all be simply combined
“Bosch possesses extensive expertise in mobility’s key fields – automation, connectivity and electrification. Combined with our systems integration competence, this means we are better positioned than almost any other company to develop innovative mobility solutions for our customers,” Denner said.
These solutions include software-based business models and services such as fleet management. Together with partners, Bosch already has test fleets on Germany’s roads. Status updates broadcast by the vehicles are analyzed and prepared to customer specifications. This allows customers such as leasing companies or insurers to plan maintenance and repairs more efficiently and increase the availability of vehicles.
Other new business models include mobility concepts that allow users to choose the right mode of transportation for a given situation. For example, they will be able to combine car sharing with public transportation and a taxi. “In the smart cities of tomorrow, it will be possible to offer intermodal mobility concepts alongside other services,” Denner said. Bosch and its partners in the “Stuttgart Services” project are for example setting up a single system through which to access mobility applications and municipal services such as libraries.
