Bosch wants to continue producing combustion engine components “as long as possible”. 

Created: 2023-01-02 15:13

By: Julian Baumann

The world's largest automotive supplier, Bosch, is also in the middle of the transformation to e-mobility.

However, they still want to stick to the components for combustion engines.

Stuttgart - The change in the automotive industry is not only in full swing among the manufacturers, but also among the suppliers.

The large Swabian automotive suppliers Bosch, ZF and Mahle are also gearing up for the e-car era.

Bosch, headquartered in Stuttgart, says it has already invested more than five billion euros in the transformation.

However, a large proportion of the jobs at the world's largest auto supplier still depend on combustion engines, and the Swabians are far from giving up this technology, reports BW24.

Bosch boss Stefan Hartung made a clear announcement last year with regard to the future of mobility.

"Cars with combustion engines will continue to exist," said the chairman of the Bosch board of management.

Although the technology group is increasingly focusing on electric cars and fuel cells, it does not want to give up its core business, as Paul Thomas, Executive Vice President of Bosch North America,

explained at the

Bosch and traditional technologies: “We want to stay in all sectors for as long as possible”

The transformation is sometimes significantly more complex for the automotive suppliers than for the manufacturers.

Until now, ZF Friedrichshafen has mainly manufactured drive and chassis technology, and Mahle also produced systems for the combustion engine – such as pistons, cylinders and valve controls.

Bosch, too, is still largely dependent on traditional technologies and does not want to neglect them, with the aim of continuing to function as the world's largest automotive supplier.

"We want to stay in all industries for as long as possible," said Paul Thomas.

"We believe there is a future for the internal combustion engine."

Although Bosch also relies on future technologies, the world's largest automotive supplier wants to continue building combustion engine components.

(Symbol and archive photo) © Martin Schutt/dpa

This statement coincides with one from Bosch Mobility boss Markus Heyn, who said that the combustion engine would be needed worldwide for a long time.

Precisely because the transformation and, for example, the expansion of the charging infrastructure is not progressing at the same pace everywhere, a complete switchover will not be able to take place so quickly.

The executive vice president of Bosch North America also explained that each region of the world is approaching the end of combustion engine production in different ways.

According to Thomas, the components that Bosch does not want to give up in the future include core products of combustion engine production such as fuel injection nozzles and brake and fuel systems.

In addition to e-mobility, Bosch also relies on hydrogen – Porsche wants to save combustion engines

Especially with regard to the still gigantic number of registered vehicles with combustion engines worldwide, a quick switch is probably not possible without further ado.

Although the EU countries have agreed to only allow new, climate-friendly cars from 2035, the existing fleet will still have to be powered.

That's why Bosch is also focusing on hydrogen-based fuel cells in addition to classic e-mobility.

This drive has the potential to replace diesel engines in large trucks, explained Paul Thomas at the

Congress.

Truck manufacturer Daimler Truck is already using a dual strategy of electric and hydrogen, and Porsche also wants to use e-fuels to power combustion engines in a climate-neutral manner.

The synthetic fuels from green electricity are generated with solar and wind energy and are already being used for test purposes in Baden-Württemberg.

However, Porsche has much bigger plans and has set up a pilot factory for e-fuels in Chile.

At the start of production, a Porsche 911 was filled up with e-fuels.