Investments in climate protection and air quality
Automotive supplier Bosch wants to be the first major climate-neutral industrial company by 2020. Billions are to be invested in climate protection and air quality. “Climate change is not science fiction. It’s happening in real life,” says Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner.
If the Paris climate agreement is to be taken seriously, climate protection must not just be a long-term long-term goal, but must be implemented in the short term. Bosch wants to become an innovation leader and answer technical questions on ecological issues. “We are taking responsibility for climate protection and are therefore acting now,” announces Denner.
Various climate-neutral measures
Around one billion euros will be invested in the energy efficiency of more than 400 Bosch locations worldwide. In addition, the share of renewable energy in the energy supply is to be increased, more green electricity purchased, and unavoidable CO2 emissions offset with countermeasures. In this way, up to 3.3 million metric tons of CO2 are to be saved.
The climate impact caused by traffic is to be reduced to zero with various measures. Bosch wants to become the market leader in electromobility: The aim is to generate sales of five billion euros by 2025 – ten times as much as in 2018.
Currently, more than one million electric cars are equipped with drive components from Bosch. By the end of 2022, the number is expected to rise to 14 million. Last year alone, 30 new projects were launched. “We also want to help fuel cell technology achieve a breakthrough,” comments Denner on the cooperation with Powercell, a Swedish manufacturer of fuel cell stacks.
Investment in automation
Automated driving is also to be expanded. More than 5,000 engineers are currently working in this segment. By 2022, around four billion will have been invested in automation and sustainable mobility. The sales drivers are driver assistance systems.
To date, this area has generated sales of two billion euros. This year it is expected to grow by around 15 percent. This is to be achieved through increased sales of radar sensors by 20 percent and video sensors by 30 percent. “Automated driving is a future field that is already a growth area for us,” says Denner.
New IT and software positions
Last year, around 8,000 new jobs were created at Bosch worldwide. More than half of these were created in research and development. The demand for software and IT experts has now risen sharply. Of these, 27,000 work for Bosch worldwide.
Over the next few years, the number of associates in this area is set to grow even further. “Over the next five years, Bosch plans to hire nearly 25,000 new IT and software experts worldwide,” says Denner.