Bosch Group, the German-owned global supplier of technology and services, saw sales in the UK fall by 19 per cent in 2009, brought on by the recession, but the company said environmental technologies had helped the business weather the economic storm.
In 2009
Bosch Group sales in the UK decreased to £1.4 billion compared to £1.7 billion year on year. Globally, sales decreased to £26.7 billion from £37.4 billion in 2008, the company said.
But continued investment in
renewable energy and associated technologies will help the company achieve double digit growth in 2010, Peter Fouquet, president of Robert Bosch Limited, told GreenWise.
"In the UK, we increased
sales by more than 30 per cent in the first four months of 2010," he said "We won’t keep that momentum up all year, but we expect see 10 per cent growth [overall] this year."
Bosch invested £3 billion worldwide into
research and technology last year, much of it going into developing environmentally friendly products.
Innovative low carbon technologies that are reaping dividends for Bosch include thermotechnology, used to produce highly efficient heating and hot water products, lithium-ion batteries for power tools and 'stop-start’ engine technology for vehicles. Fouquet said components for wind turbines were also performing well for the company.
"Overall, environmental technologies make up a third of our sales and more than 45 per cent of our
research and development budget goes into products that conserve resources and protect the environment," he said.
"Our [UK] subsidiary Worcester Bosch is the leading supplier of
energy efficient boilers and renewable technologies such as solar panels and ground-source heat pumps."
Worst hit divisions of the Bosch Group last year were
automotive and industrial technology.
Automotive
The automotive sector makes up 60 per cent of Bosch’s global business, but the effects of the global economic downturn saw sales fall by 18 per cent in 2009. One of the major effects of this decline in the UK was the decision to phase out
production at the company’s starters and alternators plant in Cardiff. Closure of the facility is planned in 2011.
However, Fouquet said growth was already returning to the division, which produces the start-stop system for car engines. When used in towns, the technology can save eight per cent of fuel and Fouquet said the company expected to sell two million units of the system in 2010.
Industrial technology Bosch’s industrial technology sector was hardest hit last year, experiencing a 24 per cent decline in sales globally. The Bosch Rexroth plant in St Neots provides key components for wind turbines, which will be an increasingly important source of renewable energy going forward, the company said.
In the UK, where Bosch employs around 5000 people at 37 locations, the company cut its workforce by 14 per cent last year.
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