Bosch aims to lift sales in Asia Pacific

The target represents the group's intention to focus more on business development in this region instead of Europe and the United States, which are quite stable, said Jochen Reik, managing director of Robert Bosch, a sales subsidiary of The Bosch Group in Thailand.

He said sales in the Asia-Pacific market grew at a double-digit rate for three consecutive years to ¤7.6 billion (Bt370 billion) in 2007 compared with 5 per cent in Europe.

Meanwhile, sales in the Thai market last year rose by 45 per cent thanks to expansion in the automobile industry.

The Asia-Pacific region has several emerging markets that have gross domestic products higher than those of some European countries. The Bosch Group has so far penetrated the European and US markets but it is too late to start in the Asia-Pacific region, Reik added.

"There are many products and technologies which The Bosch Group does not introduce in those countries. Our executives, who are responsible for every division and in each country, are studying markets in the Asia-Pacific region in order to introduce products and technologies to match people's requirements," he said.

 Reik said the group's target to increase the sales share to 25 per cent within seven years came from each country's sales projection to boost their revenue in every division. At present, Europe contributes 60 per cent of revenue, followed by the US with a 24-per-cent share. After the target is achieved, the sales share from the European market should decline to below 50 per cent, while that in the US market will increase to 25 per cent, equal to the Asia-Pacific market.

The Bosch Group plans to allocate ¤1.9 billion during 2008-2010 for business investment and research and development in the Asia-Pacific region. Most will be spent in the automotive segment, which contributes 80 per cent of revenue in this region, he said.

The group set up a regional headquarters for research and advanced engineering in Singapore this month. It plans to invest up to 30 million Singapore dollars (Bt720 million) over the next five years to create a modern laboratory and develop technologies that protect the environment. Initially, the firm will study organic photovoltaics and solar-cell projects.

In August the group acquired a major share in Ersol Solar Energy, a developer and manufacturer of wafer-based silicon solar cells.

For Thailand, Reik said Robert Bosch was studying introducing thermo-technology that could turn solar energy into electricity. Besides, security products such as closed-circuit television systems for private houses and car-safety accessories are also interesting because people nowadays are concerned for their safety.

Reik said the political situation and the economic problems in Thailand did not affect the company's business. Sales in the first half of the year still grew at a double-digit rate but at a lower rate than last year. However, he declined to disclose the exact figure.

The Bosch Group last year generated revenue of ¤46.3 billion worldwide, while in Thailand it posted sales of Bt7.2 billion. It targets sales worldwide to increase by 5 per cent this year.