BOSCH

Robert Bosch GmbH is one of the world's top manufacturers of automobile components, including antilock braking systems, diesel and gasoline fuel-injection systems, starters, alternators, and auto electronics. The company also produces industrial machinery and hand tools, plus owns 50% of Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte, the European appliance maker. Bosch's Blaupunkt unit is a main manufacturer of vehicle audio equipment. The subsidiary Bosch Rexroth produces hydraulic, electric, and pneumatic machinery for applications ranging from automotive to mining.

The headquarters of Bosch is in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart. Franz Fehrenbach became chairman on July 1, 2003.
The top competitors of Robert Bosch GmbH are: Delphi Corporation, DENSO Corporation, Siemens Automotive AG. and Continental AG
Bosch is a leading global supplier of automotive and industrial technology and of consumer goods and building technology. The Bosch Group comprises some 280 subsidiary companies. The objectives of the Bosch Group's activity are sustained profitable growth and the safeguarding of its independence which allows it to pursue long-term strategies. In 2005, worldwide sales of the Bosch Group came to 41.5 billion euros (reported as $49,102,300,000), with about $8 billion in US sales.

In 2004, Robert Bosch GmbH was 17th on the list of "Top 20 Patent Winners" in the United States, with 907 new patents. This was an improvement from 20th (758 patents) in 2003, and 23rd (683 patents) in 2002.

Arrangement of the company

Although most of the company's plants and employees are located in Germany, Bosch is a truly worldwide company. In North America, Robert Bosch LLC (a wholly owned Bosch subsidiary) has corporate headquarters in Broadview, IL; with factories and distribution facilities in Mt. Prospect, IL; Hoffman Estates, IL; Farmington Hills, MI; Kentwood, MI; Waltham, MA; Clarksville, TN; and 14 other cities. The Research Technology Center is located in Palo Alto, CA near Stanford University. There are also two corporate sites in Brazil and ten in Mexico where is a central purchasing office for all divisions of Bosch Group. In North America, Bosch employs about 23,000 people, including 17,060 in the United States, 6,470 in Mexico and 590 in Canada.
Bosch employs over 261,300 people in more than 50 countries, supplying a complex distribution network of new products and parts.

Automotive Technology

About 50 percent of Bosch's worldwide annual sales are produced in automotive technology. Bosch invented the magneto, a predecessor of the alternator, which sparked most of the earliest internal combustion engines. Bosch also invented the anti-lock braking system (ABS), and as time passed, Bosch became a leader in such specialized fields as traction control systems (TCS), the Electronic Stability Program (ESP), body electronics (such as central locking, doors, windows and seats), and oxygen sensors, injectors and fuel pumps. Even in such humble technological areas as spark plugs, wiper blades, engine cooling fans and other aftermarket parts, Bosch has over $1 billion in annual sales.
Robert Bosch GmbH is supplying hybrid diesel-electric technology to automakers, including PSA Peugeot 308.

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