Bosch and MAHLE plan sale of joint turbocharger business
January 27, 2017
The Bosch Group and the MAHLE Group have announced the decision to seek a buyer for their joint venture, Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems (BMTS). The joint subsidiary was founded in 2008 and produces turbochargers for manufacturers of passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
With a total of around 1,400 employees, production is largely based in St. Michael, Austria, and in Shanghai, China. In Germany, BMTS also has a presence at two further locations in Stuttgart and Blaichach.
Further investment required
The international market for turbochargers is expected to continue to grow in the years ahead as the trend toward smaller engines fitted with turbochargers, especially for hybrid drives, remains strong. BMTS has already benefited from this market trend, however it was stated that the company is not yet large enough to achieve sustainable success in this market environment. “Large production quantities and the associated economies of scale represent a critical competitive advantage,” stated Dr Rolf Bulander, Chairman of the Business Sector Mobility Solutions at Bosch.
“Despite bulk orders received from renowned customers, the associated high capacity utilisation at our plants, and above-average growth rates, present sales volumes at BMTS are still too low in comparison with our larger competitors and must be further expanded,” added Bulander.
For this reason, further investments are needed to achieve the company size required in the market. Bosch and MAHLE said they do not intend to drive forward the further expansion of BMTS themselves, because both parent companies need to focus their investments chiefly on new areas of development. “Thanks to our state-of-the-art locations and BMTS’s good products, we are currently confident of finding a prospective buyer who will successfully expand the business,” stated Wolf-Henning Scheider, Chairman of the MAHLE Management Board and CEO of the MAHLE Group.
Employee representatives and employees have been informed about the intention to sell the joint venture. Discussions are taking place with the relevant employee representatives to prepare the next steps in the sale process.
