Bosch bets big on Asia-Pacific with 1.2 billion euros investment

Bosch has invested 1.2 billion euros (Rs 8,890 crore) in the Asia-Pacific region to develop smart technologies.

“Growth rates are reaching a sustainable level in emerging markets such as India, China and Asean member countries. The growth of the middle class has driven up the demand of quality products and smart technologies,” said Bosch in an official statement.

In 2015, Bosch generated sales of 19.2 billion in the Asia-Pacific region, which translates to 27 percent of its worldly sales. The region had seen Bosch invest a fourth of its global investments which amounts to 2.5 billion euros (Rs 18,500 crore) over the last three years.

“Especially when it comes to connectivity, we can see huge potential in Asia Pacific. Thanks to its broad footprint, Bosch is ideally positioned to offer cross-domain solutions from a single source,” said Peter Tyroller, member of the Bosch board of management responsible for the region.

Government initiatives pushing the market limits

Government initiatives like ‘Made in China 2025’ and ‘Make in India’ are supporting the widespread use of connected solutions in industry apart from modernising manufacturing.

For smart-city projects, the company  offers mobility concepts and solutions that can connect power grids, lighting systems, traffic infrastructure, and buildings, helping to improve cities’ economic and energy efficiency. Pilot projects in this area are already running in India and Singapore.

Localisation the key to success

Bosch believes that localisation is the key to success in the connectivity business which led Bosch Software to double its sales in the region in 2015.

The development of tailor-made products and solutions for every market is an important element of the company’s localisation strategy. They are working to create IoT solutions for China and Singapore. After Germany, India has the largest R&D workforce which stands at more than 14,000 engineers, who develop data mining and software solutions. Since the end of 2015, Japan has been Bosch’s third development location worldwide for automated driving, and a source of valuable insights in this field.

Bosch is an important employer in the Asia-Pacific region having more than 104,000 people. A fourth of Bosch’s associates work in this region which is more than double of what it was 10 years ago.