- Mobility Solutions business outperformed the market in China last year, reaching 88.8 billion CNY (11.3 billion euros) in sales
- Bosch actively develops a mix of powertrain technologies to help automotive industry reaching peak emissions
- To support 2060 carbon neutrality goal, Bosch is willing to share manufacturing experience with local companies
- Established Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division to develop hardware and software for future-proofing vehicles’ E/E architecture from a single source
- Improving the local R&D and production capacity of key technologies to support the high-quality development of China’s automotive industry
Shanghai, China – The success story has a new chapter. Due to the strong recovery of China’s automotive market in 2020, Bosch China’s Mobility Solutions business exceeded average market performance with 88.8 billion CNY (11.3 billion euros) in sales.
“China is now the largest single market for the Bosch Group worldwide. The rapid market recovery in China lifted our automotive business to positive growth in 2020 and helped us outperform the market”, says Dr. Stefan Hartung, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH and chairman of the Mobility Solutions business sector. For Bosch, the resilience shown by the Chinese economy under the pandemic has injected new impetus into the global automotive industry and will continue to lead the transformation and innovation of the smart vehicle industry. “Bosch remains optimistic about China’s potential as the world’s largest new energy vehicle market, especially under its vision of hitting peak emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. Bosch’s new energy business also outperformed the market with high double-digit growth in 2020.” Dr. Hartung added.
At the 2021 Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition, Bosch is showcasing its latest solutions to support peak emissions and carbon neutrality like fuel-cell stack and silicon carbide semiconductor, and leading technologies for intelligent mobility like convergence and automated valet parking (AVP).
Bosch is committed to sustainable mobility and helping China’s automotive industry reach the peak emissions and carbon neutrality
In line with the 30/60 goal, the “Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicle Technology Roadmap 2.0” proposes that carbon emissions by China’s automotive industry will peak ahead of time in around 2028, while also clarifying the development goals of energy-saving and new energy vehicles. Bosch approaches future powertrains with an open mind and is developing a wide variety of technologies when it comes to powertrain solutions that will help China to achieve this goal. On the one hand, Bosch is focused on developing a wide portfolio of electrified products and launching production in China. For example, local sales of 48V batteries have exceeded 340,000 units, while Bosch’s eAxle first achieved mass production and sales to Chinese customers. Marking an important investment in new energy, Bosch China Fuel Cell Center in Wuxi was officially put into operation in early 2021. Key component such as fuel-cell stacks will achieve small batch production in early 2021.
On the other hand, Bosch continues to develop highly efficient combustion engines. For example, with Bosch’s 2,500-bar common-rail system and technical expertise, Bosch and Weichai have increased the efficiency of Weichai truck diesel engines to 50 percent. By the end of 2020, Bosch’s 100 millionth electronic control unit (ECU) had successfully rolled off the production line. The latest version of ECU allows the engine’s combustion process to be even more precisely controlled, which not only enables better power generation, but also results in lower emissions.
In addition to pioneering technology neutrality, the Bosch Group is the first global industrial enterprise to achieve climate neutrality in its more than 400 locations worldwide. “Bosch hopes to help more companies in China achieve the 2060 carbon neutrality goal by sharing our technologies and experience from more than 1,000 projects.” Hartung says.
Developing cross-domain software and electronics to future-proof vehicles’ E/E architecture
Software is becoming increasingly important as a driver of key innovations in the automotive industry. The market for software-intensive electronic systems is expected to grow by some 15 percent annually between now and 2030, presenting huge potential opportunities. By leveraging its years of technological innovation and experience in automotive hardware combined with its software expertise, Bosch formally established the Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division to develop hardware and software for future-proofing vehicles’ E/E architecture on January 1, 2021. With its 1,100 associates, the Chinese headquarters of Cross-Domain Computing Solutions is located in Suzhou, where its R&D personnel account for 88 percent of total employees. In terms of automation, the driver assistance system business saw robust growth of 36 percent in 2020, with Bosch helping more than 40 local models achieve L2 automated driving. Bosch Digital Cabin R&D Center in Zhangjiang, Shanghai, focuses on the R&D for the convergence. In the middle of this year, mass production of the world’s first Bosch convergence customer project will be launched.
Improving local R&D and production capacity of key technologies to support high-quality development of the Chinese market
“Since entering the Chinese market, Bosch has always adhered to the long-term development strategy of ‘local for local’, and has continued to expand innovative R&D and investment in accordance with the needs of local customers,” says Dr. Xu Daquan, Executive Vice President of Bosch China. In order to promote the industrialization of fuel cells in China, Bosch and Qingling Motors recently established a joint venture to develop and market fuel cell solutions and provide local customers with advanced and competitive fuel cell systems. In 2021, a test fleet of 70 light commercial vehicles equipped with Bosch’s fuel cell power module will hit the road. In the field of semiconductors, work on expanding the Bosch Suzhou MEMS sensor test center, the first semiconductor test center outside Europe, began this year. For future years, the plan will see it expand its investment to 360 million CNY (around 44 million euros) while adding 120 million CNY (around 14.7 million euros) to its investment in laboratory R&D. With the growth of the business, the test category of the center has expanded from consumer sensors to automotive sensors to better meet the needs of local Chinese customers.