• New location in Plymouth Township, near Detroit
• Capital expenditure of some 30 million euros
• Technical Center to develop driver assistance and safety systems
  
  

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP/USA – The Bosch Group has opened a new technical center in Plymouth Township, Michigan. Built at a cost of 37.5 million US dollars (approximately 30 million euros) and with a total floor space of roughly 21,000 square meters, the new building provides jobs for more than 400 researchers and developers. Their work will focus above all on driver assistance and safety systems – such as ACC, the adaptive cruise control system – for the North American automotive market.

With the investment, the Bosch Group is further bolstering its international presence and, at the same time, adding to its global development and application engineering network for automotive technology, which already comprises more than 50 such technical centers. “The additional capacity of the new technical center will help us to achieve our long-term growth targets for automotive technology in North America,” said Peter Marks, Bosch board of management member responsible for the Americas.

The technical center in Plymouth Township complements the development facilities of nearby Farmington Hills, which is also the North American headquarters of the Automotive Technology business sector. In North America, Bosch employs some 25,000 associates at more than 80 locations. In 2006, the sales of the Bosch Group in the North American market came to some seven billion euros.

About the Bosch Group

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, some 280,000 associates generated sales of 45.1 billion euros in fiscal 2008. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its more than 300 subsidiaries and regional companies in over 60 countries. If its sales and service partners are included, then Bosch is represented in roughly 150 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. Each year, Bosch spends more than 3.5 billion euros, or eight percent of its sales revenue, for research and development, and applies for over 3,000 patents worldwide. With all its products and services, Bosch enhances the quality of life by providing solutions which are both innovative and beneficial.

The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.” The special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees the entrepreneurial freedom of the Bosch Group, making it possible for the company to plan over the long term and to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future. Ninety-two percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The majority of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an industrial trust. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by the trust. The remaining shares are held by the Bosch family and by Robert Bosch GmbH.

For more information on Bosch China, please visit http://www.bosch.com.cn

News sourc: Bosch Group
Publish date: July 2007