THE CAR INQUISITION
Bosch is preparing for a future less reliant on spark plugs by dialling up the digital and putting Dieselgate behind it.
If you drive a car, chances are it uses at least one component from Bosch. The company is a giant in the automotive world, developing everything from fuel injectors and spark plugs to sensors, brake components, batteries and even wiper blades – and much more besides.
But the automotive landscape is changing, and so is Bosch. After its involvement with Dieselgate, for which it was heavily fined, the German company says it ‘has taken further steps to considerably improve its already existing compliance policies and procedures.’ Bosch says it is now ‘looking ahead, focusing our attention and resources on shaping the future in our areas of business.’
As that future will involve fewer engines and more EVs, the company is becoming increasingly involved in software and digital technologies.
The person at the epicentre of Bosch’s automotive transformation is Dr Markus Heyn, chairman of Bosch’s Mobility division, and a member of Bosch’s management board. He’s lived and breathed cars since his university days at the tech-centric RWTH Aachen, including a stint as a researcher at Ford before joining Bosch in 1999.
‘The acceleration of certain trends, and the impact that these trends have on our offerings, led us to the conclusion that we needed to really focus on them,’ says Heyn. ‘It’s a huge change –so much so that it will affect almost all of the 250,000 people here at Bosch, but we’re making good progress.’
Bosch’s exhibits at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the 2023 IAA Mobility show in Munich gave an insight into its current priorities: lidar sensors, software for connected mobility and interior comfort technologies.
Heyn prizes Bosch’s reputation as a company that creates reliable components that can do the job, and assures us it will still be the case in the digital universe.
‘We’re a brand that is trusted and a brand that can deliver high quality,’ he says. ‘Every year we win awards for our products. The good news is that our heritage brings tremendous safety and security which, for automotive, is absolutely important. It’s different here than it is making smartphones, for example. And while our heritage has always been mechatronic systems with software embedded in it, we’re now building more of a pure software business.’
The size and diversity of the company in some ways helps Bosch to pivot quickly and commit to its new strategy wholeheartedly: ‘We have 38,000 software specialists and developers – that’s massive! Even if you go beyond al
