BRANDS BOSCH
BOSCH
Bosch is a global leading supplier of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods and building technology. In the year of 2006, Bosch Group worldwide reached 43.5 billion euros. From these figures, 74 percent were originated outside Germany. At the beginning of 2007. company employed 261,000 employees - roughly 10,000 more than last year. In Germany the number of employees stood at some 110,000. The company began as "Workshop for Precision Mechanics and electrical engineering," and was founded in 1886. by Robert Bosch (1841-1942). Only a few years after the founding of the company, the first sales offices were opened in London and Paris. Today, Bosch Group has about 300 subsidiaries and regional companies in over 50 countries. From its 270 production sites, 210 are located outside Germany.
To maintain its technological leadership, Bosch spends significant sums on research and development. In 2006, the company invested 3.3 billion euros, or 7.7 percent of sales in research and development. The most intensive research business sector is once again Automotive Technology, whose research expenditures reached 2.7 billion euros, or roughly 10 percent of sales. Worldwide, 25,300 employees involved in research and development for the Bosch Group, 16,200 of them in Germany. The company's technological competence is also manifested in a number of patents. With more than 3,000 inventions, Bosch is the second largest applicant of the invention in Germany. Indeed, in the field of automotive technology, Bosch is a world leader when it comes to the number of patents.
Special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees a freedom of entrepreneurial Bosch Group, making it possible for the company to plan long terms and to undertake significant investment in maintaining advance of their own future. 92 percent of share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The majority of the voting rights has an industrial trust - Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG. Entrepreneurial ownership functions are executed by the trust. The remaining share's voting rights are held by the Bosch family and Robert Bosch GmbH.
Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH continued social commitment and efforts of the founder of the company in its original form. Untill 2006, more than 790 million euros have been donated to charities. The companies supporting areas are the ones that include science, health and humanitarian assistance, international understanding and youth, education and civil society. Foundations of international activities are focused on France, U.S.A., and countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including Turkey.