The high demand for heat pumps is driving the division’s business.
(Photo: Bosch)
Stuttgart Bosch Thermotechnology increased sales by 13 percent last year. For the first time, the technology group’s heating division has exceeded the four billion euro mark in sales, as the company announced on Friday. That is around five percent of the sales of the entire Bosch Group.
“The record turnover confirms our multi-technology strategy,” says Thermotechnik boss Jan Brockmann. Only with this approach can the climate targets in the building sector be achieved at the necessary speed and at a price that is affordable for all citizens.
The biggest growth drivers are heat pumps with an increase of 38 percent. According to the company, the growth rate is significantly higher than the overall market development. However, the entire industry is currently benefiting from the trend towards this type of heating. Competitor Stiebel Eltron recently spoke of an increase in demand for heat pumps by 30 percent.
Heat pumps work with electricity. They draw heat from the ambient air or the ground, for example, and raise it to a higher temperature level. Financially, the heat pump immediately helps to become less dependent on the high prices of fossil fuels. Bosch intends to invest 300 million euros in the heat pump business by the middle of the decade.
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The foundation group sees the global trend towards electrification and the expansion of business with air conditioning units as well as digitization as the reason for the significant growth in sales. At the same time, Bosch Thermotechnology increased investments in research and development in 2021 by 19 percent compared to the previous year to 210 million euros. The number of employees worldwide increased by around four percent to around 14,200 compared to 2020.
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In view of the war in Ukraine and the pandemic, the company left open whether the growth course will continue. There are currently some production interruptions. The Russian plant in Engels is affected by sanctions. The Bosch Group has stopped production at all three Russian locations with a total of 3,500 employees. This also includes the plant with 260 employees for thermotechnology, 850 kilometers south-east of Moscow.
However, in an interview with the Handelsblatt, Bosch boss Stefan Hartung recently admitted that the boiler business, for example, would be continued at least in part. The activities are not affected by the sanctions because they are relevant to the care of the general population.
There are also problems because of the pandemic in China. The thermotechnology plant in Shanghai had to interrupt production due to the pandemic.
Division head Jan Brockmann must hope for the resilience of his business. The division achieved the record result in 2021 “in a difficult market environment as a result of the global corona pandemic and the tense global economic situation, which is accompanied by significant bottlenecks in raw materials, electronic parts and components”.
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