160 million euros to extend facilities

· Significant expansion of manufacturing facilities for automotive products in Changsha and Suzhou

· Bosch sees good opportunities for clean diesel and for the ESP and ABS safety systems

Changsha and Suzhou – The Bosch Group is continuing to strengthen its activities in China. The company is significantly extending two manufacturing facilities for automotive technology. In total, it is investing some 160 million euros for this. In Changsha, Bosch will be spending roughly 60 million euros between now and 2008, in order to create new facilities for the development and manufacture of products such as starters and alternators. Following the extension work, the site will have doubled in size to more than 210,000 square meters. Over the same period, some 100 million euros will be invested in the production of electronic control units for airbags, ABS, and ESP in Suzhou. All in all, the extension work will create more than 1300 new jobs. “In China, demand for high-quality automotive products is increasing dramatically. In response to this, we are significantly expanding our presence at sites where we are close to our customers,” said Dr. Rudolf Colm, member of the Bosch Board of Management responsible for Asia Pacific.

This extension work is part of a comprehensive investment program. Between 2006 and 2008, Bosch intends to invest some 620 million euros in the People’s Republic of China. Most of this sum has been earmarked for the establishment and expansion of development and manufacturing facilities for automotive original equipment. As early as 2004, the company opened a new “engineering center” in Suzhou, covering an area of 200,000 square meters. In total, it invested some 50 million euros in this center. “Our aim is to develop more and more products in China that are tailored to the requirements of our local customers,” said Dr. Volkmar Denner, member of the Bosch Board of Management responsible for Automotive Electronics and Energy and Body Systems.

In introducing advanced diesel systems, Bosch is also supporting the Chinese government’s aim of reducing emissions and conserving resources. In addition, the company believes that the need for safety will be a further main area of growth in China. Here, Bosch products such as ABS and ESP can increasingly contribute to improved safety standards.

Bosch is represented in China with a holding company in Shanghai, 14 subsidiaries of its own, and six joint ventures. The company manufactures here at 20 sites, sells its products via six trading companies, and supports more than 400 Bosch Service Centers. According to IFRS reporting standards, sales revenue of the Bosch Group in China came to roughly one billion euros in 2005. The company employs some 14,000 associates in the country.


The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal 2005, some 251,000 associates generated sales of 41.5 billion euros. Set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering,” the Bosch Group today comprises a manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service network of more than 280 subsidiaries and more than 12,000 Bosch service centers in over 140 countries.

The special ownership structure of the Bosch Group guarantees its financial independence and entrepreneurial freedom. It makes it possible for the company to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future, as well as to do justice to its social responsibility in a manner reflective of the spirit and will of its founder. 92 % of the shares of Robert Bosch GmbH are held by the charitable foundation Robert Bosch Stiftung. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG.

Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch.com.

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Howard, Luo Qinghong

The Bosch Group

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