Bosch China sales grow 25% in 2008

Shanghai, April 30 (Gasgoo.com) Germany's Bosch Group, a leading automobile components maker, said recently that sales in China had maintained strong growth last year despite showing global sales due to the economic downturn, according to a China Daily report.

"Bosch's China sales came to 22.8 billion yuan ($3.34 billion) in 2008, a rise of 25 percent over the previous year," Peter Pang, president of Bosch China Investment Ltd, said at a press conference during the 2009 Shanghai auto show.

The global economic slowdown, coupled with a sharp appreciation of the euro, dragged down Bosch's global sales to roughly $58.2 billion in 2008, a drop of 2.8 percent over the previous year.

During the conference, Pang also hailed China's recent supportive plan to increase production of new energy vehicles. China has set a target to increase the production of new energy vehicles to 500,000 units by 2011, accounting for 5 percent of total vehicle production of the country.

Pang told that Bosch would soon introduce its lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles in China. The company had established a joint venture with Samsung last year to develop these batteries.

Uwe Raschke, a Bosch board member in charge of the Asia-Pacific region, expects China auto market to grow further this year. He added that the company will continue to up investment in China.

Bosch had invested a total of 3 billion yuan in China by the end of 2008. The company currently employs 20,200 employees in its 44 units in the country, the largest outside Germany.

At the Shanghai show, Bosch exhibited its innovative technologies, including gasoline and diesel engines, as well as a full range of components and solutions for new energy vehicles, including electric motors, power electronics, and converters.