Bosch reorganises commercial vehicle business
The new unit will be headed by Jan-Oliver Röhrl (pictured above), Executive Vice President Commercial Vehicles and Off-Road. Bosch made the announcement at the IAA Transportation in Hanover, Germany. The company is expanding its product and solution portfolio and is focussing on various technologies: “Commercial vehicles’ transition to alternative powertrains will succeed only if we remain technology neutral and continue to develop all forms of powertrains and make them more efficient,” said Markus Heyn, member of the Bosch board of management and chairman of the Mobility business sector.
“Technological neutral” means Bosch is focussing on battery-electric drives, fuel cells, hydrogen and combustion engines. According to internal forecasts, the company assumes that by 2030, around 20 per cent of all newly registered commercial vehicles heavier than six tonnes worldwide will have a battery-electric drive. And around three per cent will be powered by fuel cells. Bosch estimates that by 2035, “a good one in three trucks will have a battery on board, and one in ten will feature a fuel cell.” Moreover, Bosch believes that the hydrogen engines will also be on the road by then, though in smaller numbers. The company also agrees with calls from OEMs such as Daimler Truck, for example, to invest in charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles as soon as possible. “We need a consistent and faster expansion of electric charging stations and hydrogen filling stations in Germany and Europe,” Heyn said.
Bosch emphasises that the different drive technologies are not in competition with each other. Instead, “the variety allows manufacturers to decide on the optimum solution for each application.” That is why the company is also looking to make combustion engines for trucks more efficient – and believes that “synthetic fuels can also play a major part in mitigating climate change.”
“In the coming years, we expect the continuing growth in global freight transport and the simultaneous switch to alternative powertrains for commercial vehicles to drive another surge in growth for our business,” Heyn explained. “For us, our business with big vehicles is anything but a small matter – in Mobility, we generate one-quarter of our sales with trucks and vans.”
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