Bosch sees huge growth potential in China

View of the Asia-Pacific headquarters of Bosch in the Linkong Industry Park of Hongqiao, Shanghai, China,? March 28, 2014. [Photo/dfic.cn]

FRANKFURT - China is a huge market and there is a great growth potential in the years to come, a member of the board of management at Bosch Group has said.

In an interview with Xinhua at the group's annual press conference held earlier, Peter Tyroller, a management board member responsible for coordinating activities in Asia Pacific, made the remarks.

With regard to the economic growth prospect in China, Tyroller believed that the gross domestic product (GDP) growth will continue for years at a rate between 7 percent to 8 percent.

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"There are a lot of growth opportunities coming up in China in various aspects," he said while commenting on the target of Bosch Group, one of the leading technology and service providers in Germany.

The company earlier announced that it aimed to double its sales in the Asia Pacific region by 2020, which, according to Tyroller, is one of Bosch Group's major growth regions.

In 2013, the sales of Bosch Group in the Asia Pacific region accounted for roughly one fourth of the total and the sales in China made up of 10 percent of the total. In 2013, the sales of Bosch Group increased by 18 percent in China.

Tyroller elaborated that sales of Bosch Group's automotive sector in China rose by 24 percent, higher than the car production circle, saying "And this was a very good sign for us that we could gain more market shares ..."

As for Bosch Group, there is room for improvement when it comes to technologies such as emission reduction, gasoline consumption reduction and safety technologies, Tyroller argued. Tyroller considers the subsidies for new-energy vehicles in China as "an important measure" of promotion.

"I think the government's approach is very well appreciated, because this will help (protect) the environment," he said. Bosch Group has started localized production of major electrification components in China. "We are ready to support the car manufacturers in China," he added.

The introduction of some electric cars caused a stir on the market. Nonetheless, Tyroller is convinced that the costs and energy density of batteries used on electric vehicles are no sufficient to bring?them to the mass market.

Tyroller disclosed that Bosch has a target to reduce the costs of batteries by 50 percent and double the energy density.

"As soon as those targets are achieved we assume that there will be no major barrier to really introduce electric vehicles," he said, adding that infrastructures need to improve to facilitate the use of new-energy vehicles.