Bosch pays more attention to India & China

Germany's Bosch Group, sees emerging markets powering growth in 2008 as a global credit crunch cool sales in Europe and the United States, its largest markets, a senior official said on Thursday.
 
The world's biggest supplier of auto parts is targeting double-digit expansion in China and India and expects increased safety standards and stricter emission norms to help sales, Bosch Automotive head Bernd Bohr told reporters

."Auto sales in Europe are going to be flat in 2008, and I don"t expect the U.S. to recover," he told a news conference where the firm announced it would invest an extra 170 million euros ($250 million) in India by 2010.

That would take Bosch's total investment between 2005-2010 in the world's second-fastest growing major economy to nearly half a billion euros. It makes diesel engine parts, gasoline systems, brakes and electronics in India.

"Potentially, there are dark clouds in U.S. due to the banking situation," Bohr said.

Analysts have said the U.S. housing slump and credit woes could hit demand. A top sector investor forecast last month that U.S. auto sales could slump to levels not seen in 15 years.

Bosch expects Asian sales to increase threefold by 2015 to 22 billion euros, a quarter of its total expected revenue. It currently gains 16 percent of revenues from the region, while two-thirds of sales are in Europe.

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