Shanghai, December 12, 2005 — The Bosch Group announced today that it has reached an agreement with Rinnai Corporation to establish the joint venture RBS Thermotechnology Co. Ltd., with a total investment of 60 million CNY. The new company will be located in Pudong, Shanghai. Under the agreement, the joint venture will start the production of Bosch-designed gas water heaters in autumn of 2006 and will export them through the established worldwide Bosch distribution channels. In the future, the joint venture will also produce Rinnai-designed gas water heaters for sale through Rinnai’s own distribution channels.

RBS Thermotechnology is a joint venture between Rinnai Corporation (60%), Shanghai Rinnai Co. Ltd. (10%), BBT Thermotechnik Nederland Holding B.V. (20%), which is a subsidiary of Bosch, and Bosch (China) Investment Ltd. (10%). RBS Thermotechnology Co. Ltd. will have a registered capital of 30 million CNY.

Earlier this year Bosch acquired 4.89% of the outstanding shares of Rinnai Corporation and today’s announcement is a further move by Bosch to strengthen the strategic alliance.

In order to strengthen its thermotechnology business Bosch will relocate its local gas water heaters manufacturing activities in Shunde to the new joint venture, RBS Thermotechnology Co. Ltd., in 2006.

Bosch set up its first Asian sales office in Shanghai in 1909. Since then Bosch has set up 13 subsidiaries, 6 trading companies and 6 joint ventures in China, coordinated by the investment company - Bosch (China) Investment Ltd.. Up to 2004, Bosch had invested roughly 550 million euros in its Chinese activities. Between 2005 and 2007, Bosch plans to invest another 650 million euros in China.

In China, over 13,000 Bosch associates follow Bosch’s “3S principle” – Sicher (safe), Sauber (clean), Sparsam (economical) and are committed to bringing to their customers the latest technology as well as the most reliable services to help the Chinese people improve their quality of life. Innovation applied to environmental protection has been a corporate principle of the Bosch Group since 1973.

About the Bosch Group

The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal 2004, some 242,000 Bosch associates generated sales of 40 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 some 260 subsidiaries and more than 10,000 service centers in over 130 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 Robert Bosch Stiftung, a charitable foundation. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG.

Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch.com.cn.
For further details please contact: