23-03-2007 The
Bosch Group, a global automotive and industrial parts maker, said yesterday robust
growth in Asia, especially China, boosted sales of its drive, control and motion
solutions to a record 4.9 billion euros (US$6.52 billion) last year, despite a
fall in the American market.
"What we lost in America, we get back
in Asia," said Theo Ramborst, managing director of Bosch Rexroth China, in
Shanghai.
Bosch Rexroth, a unit of Germany-based Bosch Group which supplies
motion control solutions, reported sales of 2.8 billion yuan (US$359 million)
last year in China, its third largest market after Germany and the United States.
The sales jumped 32 percent over 2005 and was the fastest growth rate of all markets.
The overall growth rate for Bosch Rexroth in the past year was only seven
percent. Its American market, in contrast, slipped a little as auto makers like
General Motors and Ford cut their orders amid a restructuring.
Ramborst
expected sales this year to continue to grow by more than 30 percent on the back
of China's growing auto and construction equipment sectors. He said the long-term
goal is to make China its major production base for all of Asia.
"We
expect to continue to grow organically at a rate that is at least equal to the
levels experienced last year," he said.
The company will also step
up investment in renewable energy equipment like wind turbines.
It will
expand its gearbox plant in Beijing in July, and open four new sales and after-sales
offi ces in China.
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