In the wake of a deep recession
First signs of recovery
Structural change in the auto motive industry expected

• Frankfurt Motor Show in an especially difficult year

• Recession leaves its mark on Bosch business results • Flexible response to the economic downturn

• The automotive industry set for new wave of innovation

Frankfurt am Main / Stuttgart – “Never before has the Frankfurt Motor Show been held in such an economically difficult year. While the worst of the economic thturbulence seems to have passed, the structural challenges that our industry faces are becoming ever clearer.” With theese words, Franz Fehrenbach, chairman of the Bosch board of management, opened the Bosch press conference at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2009. Commenting on important trends in the industry, he singled out the shift of automotive sales growth to the emerging markets, the development of new drive technologies and the ever stricter demands imposed worldwide on environmental and passenger protection. “This year’s Frankfurt Motor Show is taking place at a time in which the automotive industry is undergoing major change as its technology is transformed,” said Fehrenbach. The automotive industry, he went on to say, is not only successfully containing the effects of the worst recession in decades, it is also gearing up for one of the most promising waves of innovation in a long time. This is of course a double challenge, particularly for a leading and technologically strong supplier like Bosch.

The economic downturn, meanwhile, has clearly left its mark on the business results of the Bosch Group. Sales for 2009 are expected to fall by about 15 percent, or some 38 billion euros. In the company’s automotive businesses, sales may decline by as much as 20 percent. As a consequence, operating result will be clearly negative. With an estimated headcount of 270,000, the Bosch Group will have some 10,000 associates fewer at the end of 2009 than it had at the beginning of the year. Over the same period, headcount in its automotive businesses will drop from 168,000 to some 160,000 – a reduction which is still moderate compared to the overall decline in sales.