"There is still a great deal of uncertainty with regard to future economic developments, even though the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone has been defused slightly," Fehrenbach said. In the first quarter of 2012, sales increased year on year by some five percent, despite the cooling of the global economy and difficult developments in a number of European markets. The greatest relative growth was achieved in Industrial Technology, followed by Automotive Technology. Developments in the Consumer Goods and Building Technology business sector were more moderate.
With innovative products, cost improvements, and lower one-off burdens, Bosch wants to improve pre-tax result in the current year. "However, given the persistence of high raw materials prices and continued upfront investments in new areas of business, it will be difficult to achieve our target rate of return on sales of 7 to 8 percent this year," Fehrenbach said.
As a result of the good business developments, global headcount also increased in 2011, by 19,000 to 302,500 as of January 1, 2012. The greatest increase was in Europe, where 9,800 associates joined the company, 5,200 of them in Germany alone. An additional 8,000 associates were hired in Asia Pacific. In North and South America, Bosch headcount increased by 1,200 in all. The slower rate of growth will have an effect on the number of new hires in the current fiscal year. Depending on business developments, and including newly consolidated companies, global headcount is expected to increase to roughly 315,000 in the course of the year. Bosch intends to create most of these jobs in the Asia Pacific growth region. In Germany, the company expects to see a slight increase in associate numbers.
In the past fiscal year, Bosch once again significantly expanded its international presence. Over the past three years, seven new regional companies have been set up: in Cambodia, Egypt, Georgia, Ireland, Morocco, Panama, and Peru. By 2013, it is planned to set up further companies in Bangladesh and Laos. The countries in which the company is now present account for 97 percent of global GDP.
(Jim Evans)
