Bosch's core operating areas are spread across four business sectors: mobility (hardware and software), consumer goods (includinghousehold appliances and power tools), industrial technology (includingdrive and control) and energy and building technology.[4] In terms of revenue, Bosch is thelargest automotive supplier.
The company started in Stuttgart-West as theWerkstätte für Feinmechanik und Elektrotechnik (Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering) on 15 November 1886.[5] From 1897, Bosch started installingmagneto ignition devices intoautomobiles and became a supplier of an ignition system. In 1902, the chief engineer at Bosch,Gottlob Honold, unveiled the high-voltage magneto ignition system withspark plug.[6]
In 1901, Bosch opened its first factory in Stuttgart.[7] In 1906, the company produced its 100,000th magneto. In the same year, Bosch introduced the eight-hour day for workers. In 1910, the Feuerbach plant was founded near Stuttgart where Bosch began producing generators and headlights (Bosch-Light) in 1914. The motorization of road traffic meant that the company grew very rapidly after 1900. Bosch had a workforce of 45 in 1901, which grew to more than 1,000 by 1908.[8]
Bosch's international development began in 1898 with the opening of a branch in London, followed the next year by Paris, Vienna, and Budapest. By 1909, Bosch was represented by trading partners on every continent. Bosch opened the first factory outside Germany in Paris, in 1905, and the first on another continent in 1912 in Springfield, Massachusetts (USA). In 1913, Bosch founded an apprentice workshop to recruit young people for the production of automotive electrics.[8]
In 1917, Bosch was transformed into a corporation and remained so until 1937, when Robert Bosch became the sole owner again after buying back his shares. In the process, the company became a limited liability company (GmbH).[8]
After the First World War, Bosch lost most of its international holdings, including its U.S. factories. The company had to rebuild its international activities. This included expansion in South America and Asia. In 1922, Illies & Company established a sales office for Bosch in Calcutta, India. In the years that followed, Bosch concluded contracts in Asia with sales partners in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, and on the American continents with partners in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador.[8]
In the 1920s, Bosch improved the product range to include numerous automotive technology products that were required for cars, such as electric horns (1921), windshield wipers (1926), and direction indicators ("trafficator", 1927). In 1927, Bosch launched injection pumps for diesel engines. Bosch purchased the gas appliances production facility from Junkers & Co. in 1932 as a part of a diversification strategy. In 1932, the company developed its first electric drill and presented its first car radio. In 1933, Bosch introduced its first electric refrigerator for private households.[8]
Like most German businesses at the time, Bosch had links to the rulingNazi Party. Prior toWorld War II, Bosch under the direction of the Nazi Party began relocating armaments production to Germany's interior. Bosch founded two factories in 1935 and 1937: Dreilinden Maschinenbau GmbH inKleinmachnow and Feinmechanische Industrie GmbH (later Trillke-Werke GmbH) inHildesheim, for armament production. These factories were built secretly and in close cooperation with the Nazi authorities.[9] In 1937, Bosch AG became a limited liability company (GmbH).[10]
The Bosch subsidiary Dreilinden Maschinenbau GmbH (DLMG) in Kleinmachnow employed around 5,000 people, more than half of whom wereforced laborers, prisoners of war, and female concentration camp prisoners, including many women from theWarsaw Uprising.[11] During theSecond World War, there were at least 3,000 workers in the mechanics division at the Bosch Hildesheim factory, almost all of them from nearby occupied countries; there were only 200 recorded German workers.[12] In the last years of the war, all new German tanks included starter elements from the Bosch factory in Hildesheim. Bosch had a monopoly position in the outfitting of German Luftwaffe aircraft.[13]
In 2001, Bosch acquiredMannesmann Rexroth AG, which they later renamed toBosch Rexroth AG.[14] In the same year, the company opened a new testing center in Vaitoudden, close toArjeplog in north Sweden. A new development center for automotive engineering, inAbstatt, Germany was constructed shortly after.[15] In 2002, Bosch acquired Philips CSI, which at the time was manufacturing a broad range of professional communication and security products and systems includingCCTV, congress, and public address systems.[16][full citation needed] In the 2000s the company developed the electric hydraulic brake, common rail fuel injection with piezo-injectors, digital car radio with a disc drive, and the cordless screwdriver with alithium-ion battery in 2003. In 2004, Bosch bought Sigpack Systems fromSIG.[17]
Bosch received theDeutsche Zukunftspreis ('German Future Prize') from the German president in 2005 and 2008. A new development center was planned in 2008 inRenningen. In 2014, the first departments moved to the new center, while the remaining departments followed in 2015. In 2006, Bosch acquiredTelex Communications andElectro-Voice.[18] In 2009, Bosch invested about€3.6billion in research and development.[19] Approximately 3,900 patents are published per year. In addition to increasing energy efficiency by employing renewable energies, the company plans to invest in new areas such asbiomedical engineering.
2013:Bosch announced it would exit its solar business[23]
2014:Bosch takes over 100% of the shares from the former BSH Bosch andSiemens Hausgeräte GmbH joint venture (home appliances)[24]
2014:Bosch received the 2014 U.S. Smart Partner award for Physical Security fromIngram Micro Inc.[25]
2015:Bosch takes over 100% of the shares of the former ZF Lenksysteme (Steering Systems) GmbH joint venture (was 50/50 withZF Friedrichshafen)
2015:Bosch purchases Seeo, Inc, a start-up working on solid-state lithium-ion batteries.[26][27]
In May 2019, Bosch said it planned to reachcarbon neutrality by 2020 by investing in clean electricity and acarbon offset program.[28] In July 2019, Bosch sold its packaging machinery business unit toCVC Capital Partners, which was subsequently rebranded to Syntegon.[29][30] Bosch has formed a strategic alliance with theTechnische Universität Darmstadt.[31] In the first quarter of 2020, Bosch was certified as being carbon neutral, across more than 400 sites, worldwide.[32][33] In 2020, Bosch funded the creation of a report entitledDecarbonising Road Transport: There Is No Silver Bullet, which contained disputed information about the environmental performance ofelectric vehicles.[34]
In January 2021, Volkswagen filed aUS$1.2-billion class-action against Bosch andContinental AG in the United States after VW was forced to reduce production due to a lack of automotive microchips.[35][36] On 26 January 2021, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed that Bosch won on all claims.[37] In June 2021, Bosch opened a newly built semiconductor manufacturing plant in which it investedUS$1.2billion, its largest-ever spending on a single project.[38] In April 2022, Bosch acquired Five.ai, avehicular automation startup.[39] Also in April 2022, Bosch acquired Arioso Systems, aDresden-based MEMS micro speaker producer, added to Bosch Sensortec GmbH.[40]
In July 2022, Bosch announced plans to invest€3billion into its semiconductor chip production and R&D over the next four years, including opening new facilities for manufacturing a computer chip development inDresden andReutlingen.[41] China is both a market and a manufacturing location for Bosch. In 2023, Bosch had 58,000 employees in China and group sales of CNY 139.1 billion.[42][43] In September 2023, Bosch acquired TSI Semiconductors, aRoseville-headquarteredsilicon carbide (SiC) power device manufacturer.[44] In August 2025, Bosch acquired the heating and air conditioning operations ofJohnson Controls forUS$8billion.[45][46] In September 2025, the company announced plans to cut 13,000 jobs at its auto parts business, representing 3% of its global workforce, in stages by 2030 as it relies more onartificial intelligence.[47][48][49]
The mobility division is the largest, in terms of revenue. The Bosch 2024 global annual report, showed that this division accounted for 61% of global revenues of€90.3billion.[50] This division creates solutions for vehicles and fleet management, developing software, vehicle electronics, logistics management solutions, driver assistance and safety systems and vehicle energy systems such as thermal performance.[51] The mobility division is active in powertrain systems, but has evolved to include hydrogen storage, electric propulsion, automated driving and connectivity.[52] Since 2022, this division is going through a comprehensive transformation process due to rapid technological advancements that are impacting the sector.[53] Bosch Mobility is developing advanced driver assistance system software, cameras and sensors that they are overlaying with artificial intelligence.[54] In 2025, this divisions production was impacted by geo-political decisions that led to exportations ofNexperia's finished products being banned,[55] that impacted the supply chain of the automotive sector.[56]
Consumer Goods contributed 22% of total Bosch Group sales in 2024.[50] The Consumer Goods business division includesBSH Hausgeräte GmbH, which offers energy-efficient, and increasingly connected household appliances. Its products include washing machines, tumble dryers, refrigerators, freezers, stoves and ovens, and dishwashers. Small appliances includevacuum cleaners,coffee makers, andfood processors. The Professional and DIY Power Tools division manufactures power tools and accessories, and measuring technology. This includes tools such ashammer drills, cordless screwdrivers andjigsaws. This division also makes gardening equipment such aslawnmowers,hedge trimmers, andhigh-pressure cleaners. One of the division's focal points is high-performance cordless tools.[57] In 2019, they were ranked as the largest power tools manufacturer in the world, based on 2018 revenue.[58] In 2025, Bosch announced it would close two of the power tools manufacturing sites, based in Germany, in 2026, due to economic factors impacting the construction sector and consumer confidence, with production moving to alternative locations, to improve efficiency.[59] Bosch is also a manufacturer ofelectric bicycles,[60] offering motors and systems connected to e-bikes such as batteries, displays, and digital services. The eBike Systems division was established in 2009.[61] Brands in this sector include:
The Energy and Building Technology business sector generated€7.5billion of total Bosch Group sales in 2024.[50] Its Building Technologies division (formerly Security Systems) has two areas of business: the global product business for security and communications, and the regional integrator business. The latter offers services for building security, energy efficiency, and building automation in selected countries. Both units focus on commercial applications. The products encompass video surveillance, intrusion detection, fire detection, and voice-alarm systems, as well as access control and professional audio and conference systems.
TheThermotechnik GmbH Thermotechnology division offers systems forair conditioning, hot water, and decentralized energy management. It provides heating systems and energy management for residential buildings, water heaters, and commercial and industrial heating and air-conditioning systems. The Bosch Global Service Solutions division offers outsourcing for business processes and services, primarily for customers in the automotive, travel, and logistics industries and in information and communications technology. Within Bosch, it also provides shared-service functions. Robert Bosch Smart Home GmbH offers web-enabled, app-controlled products for the home. Brands within this sector includedDynacord,Telex,Worcester Bosch,Electro-Voice, andJunkers. In 2025, the security/communications/conference systems business unit, which included brands Electro-Voice and Dynacord, was sold to Triton Partners, an investment firm, based in Duke Street, London to be operated as Keenfinity Group.[62][63]
In 2024, the Industrial Technology business sector generated roughly 7% of total Bosch Group sales.[50] The sector includes theDrive and Control Technology division, whose products include customized drive, control, and linear motion for factory automation, plant construction and engineering, and mobile machinery. In addition, the Bosch Connected Industry business unit, which develops software and carries out Industry 4.0 projects for internal and external customers, has been part of the Industrial Technology business sector since the start of 2018.
The Bosch Group operates in other business areas that are not assigned to a particular sector.[64] Bosch Healthcare Solutions GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH, established in 2015, that provides products and services in the area of healthcare and medical technology. In March 2020, Bosch Healthcare developed aCOVID-19 testing tool that provided results within two and a half hours that was performed directly at the point of care.[65]
The Grow Platform GmbH is the legal entity of Grow and a 100% subsidiary of the Bosch corporation. Grow is an internal start-up incubator. Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH (Rbvc, also known as Bosch Ventures) is the corporate venture capital company of the Bosch Group. RBVC invests worldwide in innovativestart-up companies. Its investment activities focus on technology companies working in areas of business of current and future relevance for Bosch, above all, automation and electrification, energy efficiency, enabling technologies, and healthcare systems. RBVC also invests in services and business models as well as new materials that are relevant to the above-mentioned areas of business.[66]
Headquarters inGerlingen, GermanyIT campus in Stuttgart-Feuerbach, Germany
Through a complex network of over 468 subsidiaries and regional entities, the company operates in over 60 countries worldwide. Including sales and service partners, Bosch's global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. At 125 locations across the globe, Bosch employs roughly 90,100 associates in research and development.
In the UK, Bosch has its corporate head office inDenham, Buckinghamshire, and employs circa. 6,300 people. There are 30 Bosch Group locations throughout the country, including 10 manufacturing sites.[67] Alongside sales and support functions for all Bosch business sectors in the region, the company also manufactures boiler systems, mobile hydraulics, as well as packaging machinery alongside lawn and garden products in the UK.[68] In March 2019, Bosch opened its London Connectory, aShoreditch-based "co-innovation space" open to partners from the public, private, and academic sectors, from start-ups to multinational organizations.[69]
In May 2015, Bosch Security Systems opened a distribution center inGreer, South Carolina. The distribution center adds more than 50 new associates in the state and will receive, store and ship more than 50,000 different products for video surveillance, intrusion and fire detection, access control and management systems and professional audio and conference systems.[72] In 2017, Bosch launched its first co-creation IoT innovation space in the world, the Connectory. A partnership with1871, it is located within theMerchandise Mart in downtownChicago,Illinois.
Bosch entered India in 1922, when Illies & Company set up a sales office inCalcutta. For three decades, the company operated in the Indian market only through imports. In 1951, the Motor Industries Company Ltd. (MICO) was founded, with Bosch instantly buying 49% of its stock. MICO became the sole distributor and, after the Indian state implemented restrictive import regulations, a factory was set up at Adugodi, Bangalore in 1953, to manufacture various products with Bosch licensing. From this point onward, vocational training took place as well, culminating in the creation of a Vocational Centre in 1960. By 1961, 2,000 people worked at the Bangalore plant, which had already started an export business, and 57.5% of MICO shares had been bought by Bosch. This was followed by increased investments into MICO plants in India in the late 1960s and early 1970s; a second plant was installed in Nasik in 1969–1971, and a third in Naganathapura in 1988. In the late 1980s, the second-largest contingent of Bosch employees outside of Germany was based in India until eventually, in 2008, MICO was renamed Bosch Limited.[73]
Bosch India has a turnover of overUS$3billion and over 31,000 employees spread across 10 locations and 7 application development centers. Approximately 84% of Bosch India revenues come from its automotive business, with the remaining 16% split between its non-automotive businesses that include packaging, energy and building, power tools, and consumer retail.[74] Bosch also has R&D facilities inPune,Hyderabad,Coimbatore, andBangalore, India. This is Bosch's largest R&D operation outside its home market of Germany.[75] In September 2014, Bosch announced the launch of a locally developedeye-irrigation fluid in India. The company's new eye screening and detection system offers a combination of hardware and software and provides affordable eye care. Bosch India is listed on the Indianstock exchanges and has amarket capitalization of overUS$12billion.[76] In 2022, Bosch's engineering and software arm Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions (abbreviated as RBEI), changed its name to Bosch Global Software Technologies.[77]
BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, in which Bosch acquired all shares in 2014, is one of the world's top three companies in the household appliances industry. In Germany andWestern Europe, BSH is the market leader. It includes the principal brand namesBosch andSiemens,Gaggenau,Balay,Neff,Thermador,Constructa,Viva andUfesa brands, and further six regional brands. Bosch household appliances for the North American market are mainly manufactured at its factory nearNew Bern, North Carolina.
Daimler AG and Bosch established a 50:50 joint venture (JV) to develop and manufacture electric motors in 2011. The JV, called EM-motive GmbH, manufactures traction motors for electric, fuel cell and extended-range vehicles at a facility in Hildesheim, Germany.[78] In 2019, Bosch acquired the remaining shares and assumed full control of the company.[79]
In June 2008 Bosch formed SB LiMotive, a 50:50 joint company withSamsung SDI.[81] The company held a ceremony for a 28.000 m2 lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing plant in September 2009 and it is scheduled to start production forhybrid vehicles in 2011 and forelectric vehicles in 2012. The plant will generate 1,000 jobs inUlsan, Korea in addition to the 500 employees in Korea, Germany, and the United States. SB LiMotive was officially ended in September 2012 with both companies focusing on automotive batteries alone.
In October 2020, Bosch andMitchell International paired up to develop the MD-500, a wireless tablet that repair planners can use to link directly to OEM repair procedures from Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs), automatically upload pre-scan and post-scans, and write estimates and calibration reports. Bosch and Mitchell launched the MD-TS21, a target system that permits repair facilities to quickly and accurately calibrate blind-spot monitors, front-facing camera, and radar sensors in automobile models withADAS, in February 2021.[82][83][84]
Robert Bosch GmbH is 94% owned by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, a charitable foundation. While most of the profits are invested into the corporation to build for the future and sustain growth, nearly all of the profits distributed to shareholders are devoted to humanitarian causes.
Bosch family 5% ownership 7% of total votes
Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH 94% ownership no voting rights
Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG 0.01% ownership 93% of total votes
Robert Bosch GmbH Capital funds:€1.2billion
TheRobert Bosch Stiftung (Robert Bosch Foundation) owns 94% of theshares ofRobert Bosch GmbH, but no voting rights. TheRobert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG (Robert Bosch IndustrialTrustKG), with old members of the company management, agents of the Bosch family, and other eminent people from the industry (such as Jürgen Hambrecht, CEO ofBASF), have 93% of the votes, but no shares (0.01%). The remaining 8% of shares and 7% of voting rights are held by the descendants of the company founder Robert Bosch.[85] Bosch invests 9% of its revenue on research and development, nearly double the industry average of 4.7%.[86]
In 2006,Volkswagen asked Bosch for help in developing software for their emission defeat devices. Volkswagen is one of Bosch's biggest customers. Volkswagen engineers provided specifications to Bosch, who wrote the code. Bosch was concerned about the legality of the software and asked Volkswagen to assume responsibility if the fraud was discovered, but Volkswagen refused.[102] Starting in 2008, Bosch supplied 17 million motor control and mixture control devices containing illegal software to various manufacturers, domestically and globally. The automobiles fitted with Bosch's devices emitted more nitrogen oxides than allowed under regulations.[103][104]
On 1 February 2017, Bosch agreed to pay US consumersUS$327.5million as compensation for its role in devising the software.[105][106] Bosch also provided emissions software for over 100,000 Fiat Chrysler's3.0 L V6 diesel engine andGrand Cherokee SUVs and agreed to pay affected consumersUS$27.5million as part of a broader settlement in January 2019.[107] In May 2019, Bosch paid anotherUS$100-million fine for its connection to theDieselgate scandal.[103][104]
Violations of international sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
In March 2022, German engineering firm Bosch faced allegations of violatinginternational sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine after Ukrainian authorities reported finding Bosch components in Russian military vehicles.[108][109] In April 2024, the Russian government placed Bosch's Russian subsidiary under the temporary management of a Gazprom entity, citing responses to Western hostilities.[110] Additionally, reports have surfaced indicating that Bosch, along with other companies, has been selling appliances intended for the Ukrainian market in Russia.[111]
^Heller, Michael (12 January 2014)."Companies in the Third Reich: Robert Bosch and the double balancing act".stuttgarter-zeitung.de. Stuttgarter-Zeitung. Archived fromthe original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved31 January 2020.Many forced laborers worked at the Bosch plants. Bähr and Erker estimate the total number at 20,000 forced laborers, including 1,200 concentration camp inmates. At the end of 1944, the share of forced labourers in the workforce was around 33 percent; in the whole of German industry it was about 25 percent in August 1944. It cannot be said that the forced laborers at Bosch fared better than elsewhere. Especially in the factories far from Stuttgart, such as in Kleinmachnow near Berlin or in Langenbielau (Bielawa) in Silesia, there were attacks. 'The Russian workers and prisoners of war were subjected to arbitrary acts and denunciations contrary to all the principles of the company, and concentration camp prisoners were brutally abused at the Langenbielau plant,' the historians write.
^Air Science: Introduction to aviation. Montgomery: U.S. Air University, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. 1953. p. 48. "Even more poorly dispersed was aircraft magneto production, as the Bosch plant located at Stuttgart produced all the magnetos for the German military machine."
