Bosch reached total net sales of 6.8 billion RON in Romania

Bosch, a leading global supplier of technology and services, ended its 2020 fiscal year with almost 2.2 billion lei (448 million euros) in consolidated sales in Romania, thus registering a growth of approximately three percent compared to the previous year. The total net sales of 6.8 billion lei (1.4 billion euros) in Romania, including sales of non-consolidated companies and internal deliveries to affiliated companies, remained at a level similar to the previous year.

“In 2020, the Bosch Group in Romania achieved a notable result despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the drop in the automotive production”, said Mihai Boldijar, general manager of Robert Bosch S.R.L. and the representative of the Bosch Group in Romania. “In fact, we performed better than initially expected, thanks to the remarkable effort made by the entire organization, the extraordinary commitment and resilience of our associates, but also thanks to the close collaboration with our partners”, continued Boldijar. With a very good first quarter, Bosch in Romania has made a successful start to 2021. “Despite the challenging market environment, our forecast for the current business year in Romania remains positive”, Boldijar added. The company is implementing a wide range of measures to ensure that associates are protected against coronavirus infection and to secure the continuation of its business operations. The number of associates employed at Bosch in Romania stood at around 8,160 as of December 31, 2020.

Bosch invested in Romania a total of approximately 487 million lei (roughly 100 million euros) in 2020 – mainly in the further development of its Mobility Solutions manufacturing plants in Cluj and Blaj. The Bosch Automotive Electronics plant in Jucu, Cluj County has increased its production and warehouse capacity by investing more than 85 million euros in 2020.

Since its opening, the Bosch plant in Cluj has delivered over 250 million high-quality automotive parts to international customers. Furthermore, the manufacturing site in Blaj has opened in November 2020 its own Bosch Medical Center, in collaboration with the medical company Elisa Med. This is the first Bosch medical facility in Romania performing health care services on 600 square meters. Bosch associates and their first-degree family members can benefit from the wide range of services. The plant in Blaj manufactures high-tech products for industrial technology and sensors for automotive industry. In addition, the plant in Blaj became in 2020 the global Bosch leadplant for knock sensors.

Bosch is successfully conducting development activities in Romania since 2013. The Engineering Center in Cluj registered a rapid growth in the last years. Young and dynamic, the Cluj location is the place where talented software, hardware and reliability engineers work on state-of-the-art technology projects like automated driving, electric and connected mobility, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things. Currently, roughly 1,000 associates are working at the R&D center in Cluj. In addition, Bosch plans to expand its software campus with a second building. The new modern office building – planned to be ready in 2023 – will be connected to the existing facilities and will support the location’s further growth in the field of automated and connected mobility.

In the Mobility Solutions business sector, after a sales drop in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Automotive Aftermarket division recovered well in the first quarter of 2021, outperforming the market. This year, the division celebrates 100 years since the opening of the first Bosch Service in 1921. Bosch’s service network counted more than 400 car service workshops in Romania in the previous year. In addition, the Energy and Building Technology business sector registered a positive development last year as the Bosch Thermotechnology division continued its double-digit sales growth in 2020. Main growth drivers are the new range of condensing gas boilers for residential buildings, the newly launched Air Conditioning Solutions, and the industrial boilers segment. Since 2007, the Bosch Service Solutions division in Timisoara delivers comprehensive services in 18 languages to internal and external customers. Bosch in Timisoara runs multiple programs for the digital transformation. The company offers tailored software solutions by using new technologies like Robotic Process Automation or artificial intelligence, which eliminate repetitive tasks and increase quality and efficiency.Furthermore, Bosch opened last year in Timisoara a new strategic purchasing hub driving key supplier management and contract negotiations. In 2021, in order to sustain the constant growth of its operations, Bosch Service Solutions plans to hire more than 500 high level specialized associates in the fields of software development, IT Help Desk, customer experience, controlling, accounting, purchasing and sales. Furthermore, the Consumer Goods business sector also had a good performance in 2020. The Bosch Power Tools division saw a strong double-digit growth in 2020 on all product segments – professional power tools, for home and garden, measuring tools and accessories. Moreover, the division launched last year on the Romanian market the range of professional tools equipped with the new BITURBO technology – the brushless high-performance motor together with the ProCore18V batteries. With this technology, cordless power tools can even outperform the corded ones. Moreover, BSH Electrocasnice continued the trend of recent years, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, managing a double-digit growth in 2020, both in large and small home appliances. Since 1999, BSH sold over 5.4 million home appliances on the local market. In autumn 2020, the company launched the global image campaign #LikeABosch, which promotes technologies that can turn any user into an everyday hero, with the help of innovative solutions for a healthy and sustainable life. Registering a real success, the image campaign will continue in 2021 with Chef Sorin Bontea as brand ambassador for Bosch home appliances in Romania. In the Industrial Technology business sector, Bosch Rexroth salesdivision was the main partner of the national Factory 4.0 Conference in Romania in 2020, which aims to promote the benefits of Industry 4.0. The company is a reliable partner for energy efficiency projects, offering its customers smart industrial solutions such us CytroBox, the compact hydraulic unit that can be easily integrated into connected manufacturing facilities and requires up to 80 percent less energy than conventional drives.