Bosch celebrates 100 years of presence in Spain
Bosch currently available in Spain of a template over 8,000 employees, which makes the Bosch-Group one of the country's largest private employers and is active in Spain in the areas of automotive technologyTechnical automation, as well as household appliances and home automation, with sales centers and manufacturing of products. The most important sites are those of Madrid and Treto (Cantabria).
The Bosch Group has doubled its sales in the Spanish market during the last ten years. In 2007, the company achieved sales of EUR 1.9 billion in Spain, a five percent increase over the previous year. The areas of Automotive Aftermarket (spare parts for the automobile and the network of Bosch Car Service), power tools (especially the new machines for DIY enthusiasts and professionals with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries) have experienced very strong growth. However, because of the deterioration of the situation, mainly in the construction sector, is not expected that sales in Spain during the year 2008 exceeds the value reached last year.
Bosch is one of the few foreign companies who have reached the 100 years of presence in Spain. This is due, in part to the nature and the entrepreneurial spirit of the founder, Robert Bosch, covering from the start that the market should reach around the world. Robert Bosch had opened in 1886, in Stuttgart (Germany), his "workshop of mechanics of precision and Electrotechnics" with the help of a mechanical and an apprentice. At the end of the 19th century the company began to specialize in the manufacture of equipment of power for cars and engines of all kinds. Shortly afterwards, in 1902, supplied, for the first time, a complete system of ignition by means of spark plugs of ignition and a magnet for high voltage that would mean the beginning of a new stage in the history of the automobile. From that moment, Robert Bosch began its international expansion. In the 1920s, the company launched new equipment and systems for the automobile, as the first bombs of injection for diesel in 1927, engines and began to diversify into other sectors such as power tools and refrigerators.
First subsidiary in Spain in 1926
In the 1920s increased the number of cars in Spain and demand towards automotive techniques. For this reason, Robert Bosch decided to founded its first subsidiary in Spain in 1926. From that moment began the activities of marketing and technical assistance of Bosch products under the name of team Bosch S.A., with headquarters in Madrid and Barcelona. In the following years spread by all Spain stores of spare parts and services Bosch.
A very important step for Bosch was the purchase of 50 percent of the company Constructora electrical Española S.A. (CEESA), of Madrid, in 1967. It was a subsidiary of the manufacturer of automobiles and commercial vehicles Barreiros, who enjoyed great prestige in the country. Under the new corporate name of Robert Bosch Española, S.A. was made possible the provision of automobile electrical products such as dynamos, boot engines, ignition devices, generators and electromagnetic brakes for the Spanish market. A year later, in 1968, the German company bought Electro Diesel S.A., Madrid representation and grouped the organization commercial and technical service under the name Robert Bosch commercial Española S.A., which marketed a broad product range: electrical electronic equipment for vehicles, technical measurement and check for workshops, electric and pneumatic tools, as well as various products of the brands Blaupunkt, Eisemann and Junkers.
Extension of the presence of the group in Spain
Bosch continued expanding its presence in the Iberian Peninsula, expanding in other areas of business. Thus, a representation of Bosch appliances, through the joint venture Bosch and Siemens household appliances, based in Madrid, a dependent of the Bosch Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH) commercial society, was established in 1984 with headquarters in Munich (Germany). This representation was sustained in 1989, to acquire a majority stake in the Spanish manufacturers of household appliances Balay and Safel, which with the passage of the years was to become the current BSH home appliances Spain, S.A. With the acquisition of the business of equipment of brakes of AlliedSignal Inc., in 1996, Bosch added three new plants for the manufacture of components of brakes in Buelna (Cantabria), Lliçà D'amunt (Barcelona) and Pamplona which, subsequently, Robert Bosch braking systems would be United under the corporate name to its industrial fabric.
