Yokohama – Bosch, a leading global supplier of technology and services, ended its 2024 fiscal year in Japan with approx. 428 billion yen (over 2.6 billion euros) in consolidated sales to third parties in Japan. While the year 2024 remained a challenging year due to the sluggish global economy and a decline in production in the domestic automotive market, the company's main business in Japan, Bosch maintained a solid performance with a modest one percent increase in sales over the previous year.

"While vehicle production in Japan in 2024 declined by 8.5 percent year-on-year to 8.23 million units, Bosch maintained stable performance. As a result, Bosch has set a new sales record for three consecutive years in Japan," said Christian Mecker, president and representative director of Bosch Corporation, Japan, at the annual press conference. "Under the slogan ‘Invented for life', Bosch will continue to strengthen its commitment to make people's lives better not only in the automotive industry, but also in industrial equipment, air conditioning, and all of its other business areas," he added.

The number of associates employed at Bosch in Japan stood at approximately 6,300, as of December 31, 2024.

Latest technological developments led by Japan
In 2024, Bosch relocated its new headquarters with R&D functions to Tsuzuki Ward, Yokohama. By consolidating associates scattered across several locations into a new site and expanding R&D facilities, Bosch has strengthened its development structure to better meet the specific needs of its customers. At the new headquarters, Bosch is also leading the development of driver assistance system and automated driving technologies with several pilot projects underway. One of the projects is the Pallet Garage Assist System, a driver assistance system for mechanical parking garages, which utilizes image recognition software and AI. Japan's urban areas, known for their narrow streets and tight parking garages, often require a high level of driving skill for many drivers. Parking, especially in mechanical parking garages where space is limited, demands complex vehicle manoeuvres. Bosch is therefore developing the Pallet Garage Assist System tailored to Japan's unique parking environment, led by its Japanese engineering team. This system starts automated parking function upon the driver's instruction. Images captured by the near-range cameras are transferred to an external resource where AI detects the position and direction of the lifts in the mechanical parking garage. The calculated output data is then forwarded to the vehicle's ECU and subsequently transferred into the vehicle's motion system for fully automated steering, acceleration, and braking. The development is currently on-going using a mechanical parking garage at Bosch's new headquarters. To further increase the number of image data used for AI training, Bosch is not only using the parking garage at its headquarters, but also collecting data from various mechanical parking garages in Japan and expanding the data by leveraging 3D models. Demonstrations for Japanese customers have resulted in positive feedback with many expressing interests in incorporating the solution into their systems.

In the area of automation, Bosch started testing SAE Level 2 driver assistance and automated driving in the Tokyo-Yokohama area last fall. The purpose of the project is to demonstrate Bosch's rapidly developing AI-based ADAS stack that can be used worldwide in urban structures in real conditions and optimize it for volume production. Japan is characterized by complex urban structures and traffic situations, especially as seen in urban areas, such as driving on the left side of the road and adjusting vehicle speed on inclines. Therefore, Bosch considers Japan a key location for the globalization of its systems. Bosch has continued the public road testing for more than six months since the fall of 2024 by expanding the platform development environment and data collection pipeline to this end-to-end AI-based ADAS stack where AI handles the entire process of compiling data from various sensors and accurately understanding what is going on around the vehicle.

At this stage already, the system demonstrates the ability to recognize Japanese traffic signs and sizes of a variety of trucks, avoid street parked vehicles, and make decisions at complex city intersections, and has achieved automated driving in typical driving situations in large cities. This enables stable driving in urban areas at SAE Level 2 and has been highly regarded by Japanese customers during test drives. Bosch plans to continue this pilot project to further expand the system's range of application while adapting it to local needs, which will lead to the series production of the AI-based ADAS stack in the global market.

Furthermore, Bosch is also moving forward with development towards the realization of software-defined vehicles (SDV), which is rapidly gaining momentum in today's mobility market. Bosch has focused on developing vehicle motion management, a comprehensive solution that allows integrated control of multiple actuators for vehicle control, including brakes, steering, powertrain, and suspension. Hardware-agnostic software features optimize vehicle dynamics, handling, and efficiency. With the concept car currently under development in Japan, integrated multi-actuator control with vehicle motion management will enable personalized driving tailored to driver's preferences and driving situations. By maximizing the performance of each actuator, the overall driving performance of the vehicle is enhanced, enabling a variety of driving modes in a single vehicle as if it were several different vehicles. For example, while driving in the same vehicle, drivers can switch between driving modes, such as sport, comfort, and luxury, with a single software setting. Without changing vehicles, drivers will be able to optimize their driving experience for different situation, from outdoor driving on weekend mountain roads to commuting and transportation in urban areas. This solution has received high praise from multiple Japanese customers during winter testing conducted in early 2025. Currently, Bosch is focusing on further development through a series of test drives with Japanese customers and obtaining feedback.

AI will be the most influential technology in the next 10 years:
Bosch promotes associate development through various AI initiatives
Innovation is accelerating not only in the mobility market, which is Bosch's core business, but also in all industrial sectors worldwide. Along with this, AI technology is evolving rapidly and becoming an indispensable part of the growth strategies of individuals and companies. Bosch, therefore, has conducted a survey on technology and AI globally (Germany, France, UK, US, Brazil, China, and India) and in Japan to understand the importance of AI and other technologies. The results showed that AI ranked first as the "most influential technology in the next 10 years" both globally (67%) and in Japan (51%). About half of both global and Japanese respondents recognized the importance of AI skills (Global: 56%, Japan: 45%), and about half of both global and Japanese respondents thought that their jobs would be at risk from AI (49% globally and 52% in Japan). On the other hand, the percentage of those who have received AI training in their workplace was 28% globally and only 10% in Japan, indicating that the number of people in Japan with AI training is far fewer than those globally. Bosch recognizes the acquisition of AI skills as an opportunity for both individuals and companies to grow significantly and is actively adopting AI-related initiatives. For example, Bosch has already trained more than 65,000 associates in AI worldwide through its own education program, the AI Academy. Bosch has also introduced AskBosch, a generative AI tool that is being deployed globally including in Japan from the end of 2023. In 2025, the company has set a goal of achieving an average monthly access number of 50,000 or more for the tool in Japan. Furthermore, Bosch has held an internal event called "Bosch Japan AI Day" in the fall of 2024 for its associates to learn about internal and external use cases and share knowledge about AI, and plans to hold it again in 2025. In this way, Bosch is actively introducing tools and initiatives related to AI and focusing on developing human resources to keep pace with the evolution of global technological innovation.
*Please refer to a separate press release for details on the AI survey result and related initiatives.

Bosch Forum Tsuzuki: contributing to further invigoration of the entire area surrounding the corporate headquarters
In November of 2024, Bosch concluded a "Comprehensive Partnership Agreement to Invigorate the Local Community" with Tsuzuki Ward, Yokohama, and named the area where Bosch headquarters, Bosch Hall, and the all-weather plaza between the two facilities are located, "Bosch Forum Tsuzuki." Bosch has been implementing various programs to invigorate the local community. Since its opening in September of 2024, "café 1886 at Bosch" has handled more than 50,000 POS (point of sale) transactions in total and has been used by many Bosch associates and customers alike (as of May 2025). In December 2024, associates and community groups collaborated to hold Christmas ornament-making workshops, multilingual picture book readings, and other Christmas-related events on the first floor of the headquarters, which attracted many visitors. In March of 2025, Bosch Hall (Tsuzuki Ward Cultural Center) opened, and the entire Bosch Forum Tsuzuki site has been open to the public, including on weekends and public holidays.

Bosch will continue to contribute to the development of the mobility market by leading developments from Japan while expanding its non-mobility business portfolio and strengthening its business foundation. By further contributing to local community engagement, Bosch aims to achieve greater growth as a company that embodies "Invented for life."

Bosch Group: outlook for 2025 and strategic direction
The Bosch Group is continuing with its ambitious Strategy 2030 to strengthen its competitive position, even though the market environment was a significant brake on growth last year: at 90.3 billion euros, the supplier of technology and services generated 1.4 percent less sales revenue in 2024 than in the previous year, or 0.5 percent less after adjusting for exchange-rate effects. The EBIT margin from operations was 3.5 percent. "In the 2024 fiscal year, we achieved important improvements in terms of costs, structures, and portfolio," said Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. With a normal inflation rate of between 2 and 3 percent, Bosch aims to achieve annual growth of between 6 and 8 percent on average until 2030. In the first quarter of the year, Bosch increased its sales revenue by 4 percent compared to the previous year. The Bosch Group is still aiming for a target margin of 7 percent in 2026, viewing this as an extremely challenging task given current challenges. To remain successful amid changing markets and technologies, Bosch will continue to work intensively on costs and structures and focus on profitable business areas. "As a global technology leader, we are fully committed to boldly playing to our strengths, such as our high level of innovativeness," Hartung said.

The company also sees its collaboration with startups as a major stimulus for growth. As one of Europe's biggest corporate venture-capital investors, the Bosch Group announced a new fund for venture capital: the subsidiary Bosch Ventures is providing around 250 million euros. Bosch expects developments in its core Mobility business sector, particularly in electromobility, hydrogen, and software-defined vehicles, to be a major stimulus for growth. In the Consumer Goods sector, Bosch sees significant growth opportunities arising from new customer requirements. The focus for power tools is on expanding the range of cordless devices, and BSH Hausgeräte is launching a fridge-freezer this year that is the first Matter-capable home appliance on the market. In its Industrial Technology business, Bosch expects order intake to stabilize and is still pursuing the goal of achieving sales revenue of around 1 billion euros by the beginning of the next decade with software and digital services such as the Hydraulic Hub. Additionally, factory automation is set to focus on growth areas such as battery, semiconductor, and consumer goods production. In the Energy and Building Technology sector, Bosch expects the planned acquisition of the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) business of Johnson Controls and Hitachi to deliver significant growth. Despite all the global turbulence, climate action remains a core concern for Bosch. The company is underlining this with new scope 3 targets, which aim to bring down carbon emissions outside Bosch's direct sphere of influence, such as those from product use, even further by 2030. Irrespective of its growth targets, Bosch wants to double its corresponding CO2 reduction target by then from 15 to 30 percent compared to 2018. "Climate change won't disappear just because the global economy currently has other challenges to deal with," Hartung cautions. "Sustainability remains a priority for Bosch."

Contact persons for press inquiries:
Furuichi, Johdoji
Tel：045-605-3010