Germany's Bosch sees sustained growth in RP operation

MANILA, Philippines - German technology firm Bosch remains confident its Philippine operation will continue to grow in spite of the slowdown in global demand, a top company official said. 

In an interview, Robert Bosch Inc. president Franz Roland Odenthal said 2009 is expected to be a better year than the past one, pointing out that for the first quarter, the company is seeing double-digit growth in sales.

 “The construction boom is ongoing. There are continuous investments in mining and infrastructure,” Odenthal pointed out.

Likewise, he noted that the projected four million new cars in the country will help boost their sales.

Last year, the company posted a 20- percent growth in sales on the back of a resilient car industry and a state-initiated countrywide infrastructure development.

 “These positive developments and the strong performance of the Philippine peso keeps Robert Bosch Inc. within the horizon of its projected long term growth strategy,” Odenthal said.

The company’s local business lines in the automotive and power tools technology are both leaders in their respective product segments.

Automotive makes up 60 to 65 percent of Bosch’s revenues while the balance are split between power tools and car multimedia products.

On the possibility of Bosch putting up a manufacturing plant in the country, Odenthal said there are still no plans, pointing out that Bosch is looking at building manufacturing plants in countries with big automotive manufacturing facilities like Indonesia and Thailand.

 This year, Thailand expects to build 1.5 million vehicles while the Philippines will only assemble over 100,000 units.

 “If the situation changes, then it might be a possibility,” Odenthal said.  – Ma. Elisa Osorio