Bosch Expands Its Commercial Vehicles Business - Many Innovations At The IAA Commercial Vehicles

HANOVER/STUTTGART – September 24, 2008: The Bosch Group is further expanding its business with commercial vehicle technology. "Our innovations deliver a clear payback," said Bernd Bohr, chairman of the Automotive Group. For 2008, Bosch expects to generate sales of 7.8 billion euros with commercial vehicle technology, following seven billion euros in the previous year. For 2009, the company expects these sales to total 8.7 billion euros. Even so, the major commercial vehicle markets in Europe, the Americas, and Asia are seeing very different development patterns. For example, the long boom in Europe is slowly fading. In North America, a significant decline can be observed. In this region, however, greater demand is expected for the coming year, ahead of the new U.S. emissions legislation, which comes into force in 2010. In Asia, by contrast, commercial vehicles continue to be in great demand.

Economic climate checks overall business developments
In automotive technology as a whole, the effects of the economic slowdown are far more significant. Following the appreciable drop in North American automotive production in the first half of the year, the European market is now also showing signs of weakness. In Bohr's view, this development can be traced in large part to the explosion in prices for energy and many raw materials. The recent lightening of the burden of energy and raw materials prices was long overdue, he said, but he felt that the overall situation would not recover so quickly. Bohr also pointed to the strong euro, which had been a brake on the development of sales in the year to date. Nonetheless, he expected that the Automotive Technology business sector would grow slightly after adjusting for currency effects. Further developments will also depend on planned measures, such as the introduction of a CO2-based vehicle tax in certain countries. The issues that are still open in this area have caused added uncertainty for car-buyers in many European countries. As Bohr stressed: "We need clear political signals – and this not only in Germany – that will help to reassure the markets." Overall, he said, the current economic conditions meant that the Bosch Group would not achieve its target of five percent sales growth this year.

Innovations – both economic and ecological in effect
In automotive technology, research and development expenditure remains high at Bosch, at more than ten percent of sales. This also results in innovative commercial-vehicle technology, such as systems for diesel injection and exhaust-gas treatment, as well as hybrid drives and highly efficient alternators. With these innovations, Bosch is helping to reduce the operating costs of commercial vehicles further. The latest Bosch common-rail systems are one example. If they are fitted with these high-pressure injection systems, medium and heavy-duty trucks can comply with the Euro 5 emissions standards. In addition, the difference in running costs between a truck fitted with the common-rail system 4.2 and a "Euro 3 truck" is impressive: assuming total annual mileage of 150,000 kilometers, the more modern truck will pay 10,000 euros less when the planned emission-dependent freeway toll takes effect in Germany. In addition, it will consume three percent less fuel, meaning a further saving of 2,700 euros over the same distance.

Commercial-vehicle technology that protects the environment, conserves resources, and is economically advantageous for fleet operators has long been a development objective at Bosch. For this reason, the company is pushing forward the development of diverse hybrid approaches, based on electric and hydraulic technologies. The combination of internal-combustion engine and electric drive is particularly suitable for light trucks, which are deployed above all in towns and cities. In the case of a van weighing 3.5 metric tons, fuel consumption can be reduced by up to 28 percent in urban traffic. For heavy vehicles such as garbage trucks or city buses, which alternate in rapid succession between braking to a standstill and driving off again, the hydraulic hybrid is a suitable solution. It allows a diesel fuel saving of up to 25 percent. A first field trial has been running with garbage trucks in the German capital Berlin since June.

In addition, Bosch innovations also support manufacturers' solutions for exhaust-gas treatment, and in this way further reduce emissions. Denoxtronic is particularly successful. This Bosch urea-metering system has recently been awarded the German "Öko-Globe" environmental prize. Some 340,000 such systems will be delivered to commercial-vehicle manufacturers this year. In 2010, this figure will be just under one million, and nearly two million in 2012.

Making commercial vehicles safer
Bosch innovations not only reduce costs, but also improve these vehicles' safety in everyday operation. Bosch supports the European Commission's aims of making safety systems standard equipment. From 2012, for example, the Commission wants the ESP® electronic stability program to be standard equipment in all new vehicle models. Automatic emergency braking and a lane departure warning system are also set to become mandatory for all new commercial vehicle models from 2013. The EU Commission's aim is to reduce the number of road deaths: by 4,500 every year with the help of ESP®, and by 1,000 each with the help of the lane-keeping support system and automatic emergency braking. Bosch has the systems, control units, and sensors to support these aims. "These examples illustrate the special strength of Bosch as an automotive supplier," Bohr said. "As a driver of innovation, we can make commercial vehicles even better – safer, greener, and more economical."