Bosch Limited

Jun 2025 call

2025-08-05 Transcript PDF
Pramod Amte

Yes, hi. Thanks for taking my question. So this is with regard to the two-wheeler business. Congrats for such a strong growth and a quick response to set up the capacity. I wanted to know, since the capacity came on board pretty fast, what is the extent of localizations you have been able to achieve there? And second, is it fair to assume now two-wheeler as a vertical is almost a double-digit contribution to revenue?

Karin Gilges

I pick first with regard to the two-wheeler business and for the strong growth, yes, you are right, we are seeing the strong growth. It is especially in the content and regarding the contribution, of course, two -wheeler is a very important contributor to our overall turnover in the M obility, nevertheless, we do not give segmental numbers. Regarding localization, we were expecting because a lot of the content is coming out of the OBD 2 and therefore, we were prepared for this and this is localized and delivered from our Bi dadi plant. And so we are happy to have the localization on board and we are more than happy to see now the ramp up in the two -wheeler business.

Pramod Amte

Thanks. And the second one is the purchase goods seems to be easing off and as you guys are also doing the localization for other components, wanted to know how are customers looking at it? Do they allow you to keep the benefits with you majority or you feel the competitive intensity has changed now and you may have to pass on some of it to the customers?

Karin Gilges

I would answer the first part and this is regarding material costs. I think, yes, we are going ahead with the localization , but also, we have to see the product mix because it is depending on the material costs. We have another perspective and this is what we trade and what do we manufacture. And depending on the demand of the market, we see certain quarters where we have a higher part of the traded goods and we have quarters where we see a lower portion of traded goods. And in April-June 25, it was in favor of the manufactured goods. That means the demands from the customers were mainly out of all manufactured goods here in In dia and this is then, of course, also influencing the material cost. Nevertheless, you are right that we are going also ahead with the localization.

Guruprasad Mudlapur

Just to add on the pricing that you asked, these are all based on customer contracts, so they vary and we do what is agreed with the customer.

Pramod Amte

Sure, thanks and all the best.

Annamalai Jayaraj

Thanks, Pramod. Mr. Chandrakant, you can unmute and ask your question. I think there is no response. Mr. Sriram, you can unmute and ask your question.

Sriram

Yes, two questions. Sorry. I have two questions. O ne is on the M oU between Bosch and Tata Electronics, how this will benefit the listed entity? And secondly, there is a note given in the quarterly financials regarding restructuring of the mobility business. If you can elaborate on this, that would be helpful? Thank you.

Guruprasad Mudlapur

I will take the first and Karin will help you with the second one. See, the MoU is between Bosch Germany and Tata Electronics and the MoU period is for a year to explore potential cooperation opportunities in semiconductors and OSAT topics. So this is something we are exploring together with them and the MoU is actually between Bosch Germany and Tata Electronics. Right now, there is no direct benefit out of this M oU. It is a very early stage exploration with Tata Electronics and the connection could be that once we are making progress and we are able to see some localization possibilities with semiconductors, we could see some benefits going forward. So this is an early exploration MoU with Tata Electronics.

Karin Gilges

Coming to the second part of the question, this was regarding the restructuring Mobility business and this is , if we look from an angle from the commercial prudence and that we are looking forward to have a shift in the technologies. I give you an example, for example, also a TRAM 5 in the future going to a common rail and therefore we have to look all the time into our balance sheet and have to look at volume changes in product portfolio etc., and then we have the principle of commercial prudence that we build up some provisions where we have it out of the calculations. So that is the background.

Sriram

So just a follow-up on that, is there any plan to merge the sister entities with Bosch India?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

We have already made a statement on this towards SEBI. See, the thing is we continuously look at opportunities on what can be enhanced, what can be divested, what can be changed in our product portfolio and this is always an ongoing ordinary course of business for us. At this point of time, I would say there is nothing concrete in any form which is worth reporting even to the regulator or disclosing it beyond that. So as and when there is something, we will get back to you. But at this point, there is nothing to report.

Sriram

Thank you so much.

Annamalai Jayaraj

Thanks, Sriram. Mr. Chandrakant, you can unmute and ask your question.

Annamalai Jayaraj

Yes, we could hear you.

Chandrakant

Yes, my question is regarding this hydrogen ecosystem for commercial vehicles. Our solution is ready, but where does the government stand in terms of the hydrogen refilling stations, etc. How long will it take to be a dominant business?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

I won’t put a precise date and timing on this. Hydrogen is in a very early phase right now. We are working with OEMs towards technology maturity exercise with various OEMs on getting the technology matured. As you can imagine, this also requires quite some development of the ecosystem, the generation of hydrogen, the distribution, pumping, storage, all those aspects to be sort of developed and installed on different or in different areas before we can see som e commercial exploitation of this. So at this point of time, I would not go beyond that to give a very specific date because it maybe too early. Our focus is on maturing the technology and then I am sure similar things are happening with the ecosystem players on how they want to get the rest of the things aligned.

Chandrakant

Thank you, sir. My second question, which is a brief one. In your global report, you have been talking about electrification and electronification. In India, this electronification bit is outside the listed entity and then in global report again consolidation of mobility is considered. So can we expect something to happen on electronification in the listed entity?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

See, I assume when you say electronification, you are referring to the electronics manufacturing that happens in our privately held company?

Chandrakant

Yes, for Mobility.

Guruprasad Mudlapur

Yes. So all I can say is there was a very good reason why it was set up like this and the unit is more or less a contract manufacturer to us and supplies all electronics through the listed entity. And at this point of time, I do not want to speculate any furthe r changes and that is how it is. If there is any change in the structure or any change in the business operations, we will update you.

Chandrakant

Thank you, sir. Thank you for your clearances.

Annamalai Jayaraj

Thanks, Mr. Chandrakant. Anybody asks a question, please raise your hand. In the meantime, I will go through the Chatbox. There is a question on this Johnson Control unit acquisition. So can you please provide color on recent acquisition of Johnson Control unit, how this acquisition will integrate with Bosch India operations?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

Yes. So this Johnson C ontrols-Hitachi acquisition is again a global acquisition for Bosch. It is one of our biggest acquisitions so far. The portfolio is very complimentary to us in terms of the HVAC for residential and industrial applications. This comes in as a separate division, which is currently not within the listed company and it is expected to stay that way for now. And there is India operation of this, which is also going to remain that way for now. We will see how this develops and if there is any change on the portfolio or in the business operation, we will certainly update you.

Annamalai Jayaraj

Sir, next question is on this, from the annual report, what we have specified in the annual report, they have re-quoted. I will just read that. Starting in 2025, Bosch Power Solutions India will lead the powertrain and vehicle technology business for the commercial vehicle segment. As regulatory frameworks evolve, particularly in areas like ADAS and braking, Power So lutions will spearhead the adoption of technologies in electrification, steering, braking systems and advanced driver assistance for the Indian market. So the question is whether we will be involved in this powertrain, braking and all those things?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

Yes, for the commercial vehicles, yes. It doesn't mean that all activities will happen. The business ownership will happen for the commercial vehicles area through the listed entity. Power Solutions will take that.

Annamalai Jayaraj

And the next question is, in your presentation, we spoke about VCU for EV. Is it manufactured by the Bosch listed entity or by the sister concern and traded now?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

It is, all electronics, as I have said before, is manufactured by our sister entity, which specializes in electronic manufacturing and operates more or less as a contract manufacturer for the listed entity. And that is how it is currently. And the sale of the VCU happens through the listed entity.

Annamalai Jayaraj

We will go to the Q&A box. Somebody raised their hand. Mr. Balasubramanian, you can unmute and ask your question. Mr. Balasubramanian? I think he is still not there. I will go through the Chatbox, sir. We are growing at 40% quarter -on-quarter in two-wheeler segment due to new projects. How long do we expect this high growth to continue? Will volumes scale gradually or its volume will stabilize after initial ramp-up this year?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

The volumes will stabilize after ramp up.

Annamalai Jayaraj

And then there is a question on the overseas market. Is the worst over for the auto market in Europe?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

Sorry, can you repeat again?

Annamalai Jayaraj

No, in the Europe market, i s the worst over for the auto segment in Europe? That was the question.

Guruprasad Mudlapur

I would not say that the worst is over. As you know, the global economy and we talked about it also in my first slide. Most of the advanced economies are either stagnant, not growing or growing very slowly. And that is the trend in most of these advanced economies and thereby the auto sales are also quite muted in these geographies. And I believe at this point of time, we will see very muted growth in these economies.

Annamalai Jayaraj

Then there is a question on this rare earth magnet issue. So how does it impact Bosch and in your view, how it will impact the OEMs?

Karin Gilges

So we can answer of course for Bosch. Overall, we see the rare earth topic is not only in India, not only singular suppliers like Bosch, but it is an overall topic. Therefore, of course, fastly after we got the information that this is happening, we have i mplemented a task force here in India and also implemented a task force for Bosch Global where we from India are part of. So therefore, we have screened all our material numbers, we have set the applications, we get strong support from our parent company, not only from Robert Bosch China to place the applications into the right channels, but also from the overall Bosch Global Task Force where we have a good overview over the whole Bosch Group. Where are inventories? How are the material flow? What can we do? So, therefore, of course, we see an impact. We see inventory coverage until end of August. We are working on several options. We are not going only for one option to reduce the risk as much as possible. For the O EM itself, of course, I cann ot make here a statement. I can only give you our view as Bosch Limited in India.

Annamalai Jayaraj

Then there is a question on this divestment now. The recent divestment of the building technologies, Video Solutions, Access and Communication system business suggests business focus realignment. What is Bosch approach to portfolio management and what criteria determine which businesses to retain, grow, divest or merge?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

So it is a very interesting question on portfolio management and I will give you our group stance globally. We want to be in the top 3 in every segment we operate. Of course, that is not always possible in all segments, but in most of the core segments that we operate, we want to be in the top 3. And our effort and endeavor is always to ensure that that happens. And as a consequence of that, we are constantly evaluating all our portfolio to see how to ensure that we have growth in these portfolio segments and we are able to add value and be a dominant player. So based on this, certain portfolio actions are taken and one of them was the building technologies area of Video Solutions, Access and Communication systems, where we realized that significant additional investment, a lot of IP and a lot of change dynamics are required to make this into a top performer, which we believed at that point of time was not in our focus. So that was the reason we decided to hive off. And the reasons could be different for other portfolio decisions and I can't comment on that, but this was how it was felt. But that is the general principle of how we look at portfolio choices.

Annamalai Jayaraj

Then there is a question on EV, sir. So Indian market is moving in two-wheelers and three- wheelers more towards EV. So how does Bosch plan to capitalize on emerging EV trends in India? What are your strategic priorities to maintain and expand market share in this evolving sector?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

See, we are a dominant technology supplier in the EV space worldwide. And even in a very highly competitive market like China, Bosch is an extremely strong supplier of EV technologies to several OEMs in China and we are quite dominant there. We have a port folio which ranges from two-wheeler electrification all the way up to heavy commercial vehicle electrification and we offer that to all OEMs globally. It is also the same endeavor for us in India to remain a dominant player and offer these technology solutions to all our OEMs locally and this is what we are doing. We hope to have some, we are in good discussions with several OEMs on electrification projects right now and we hope to have some good news in the coming months.

Annamalai Jayaraj

I will just try again. Mr. Balasubramanian, you can unmute and ask your question. I think he is still. He is not able to. I will just go through the question by C hatbox again. Any opportunities Bosch working on ADAS? What is the outlook on this?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

Yes. So Bosch is working on ADAS for a long time globally. We are also supplying ADAS solutions globally to multiple OEMs and we see good opportunities for this. Currently, the portfolio does not belong under Bosch Limited. It is with our sister company outside of Bosch Limited. But we see a good opportunity for ADAS as we go forward and this is something that currently there is quite a lot of work happening outside of Bosch Limited.

Annamalai Jayaraj

Then there is a question on exports. Export business outlook for Bosch Limited both on near term and medium term perspective, a ny major new product line opportunities in the coming years and any target for export in the medium term?

Karin Gilges

Yes. Thank you very much for this question. So we showed you already that we have implemented the new N Ox line in the Bidadi plant where we are currently in the ramp up and where we have also a certain volume on export on the line in the future. So we see a growth in the export business and we also, of course, pitch wherever possible. But please be aware that in the end, we have to be competitive in the land costs. That means logistics, etc. , has to be then competitive with the European plant, with the US plant, etc. But yes, we are looking also permanently into our opportunities here wherever we have volumes free and where we can produce more. We pitch in the global network also for export volumes.

Annamalai Jayaraj

Also, the question was any target in mind in the medium term?

Karin Gilges

Well, you cannot say in this volatile times where you also see the technology transfer, it is, you cannot say I have this or that target. For us, it is, of course, in general, a target we would like to fill up our lines and whatever is left besides the Ind ian market, we would like to place in the international production network. Nevertheless, focus number one is the Indian market and the Indian OEMs.

Guruprasad Mudlapur

Yes, maybe another generic statement that continuously increasing our exports is one of our targets. I can put it that way.

Annamalai Jayaraj

Then Mr. Laxminarayan is in line. Please unmute and ask your question.

Laxminarayan

Yes, two questions. One is on the export side, which are the lines of businesses where as Bosch India, we are competitive. Can you be specific on which business, whether it is for commercial vehicle or this is for the direct injection or is this for the tractors? That is my first question. Second question is that how are you looking at the emission norms changes that are coming up, especially in the tractor segment? How soon it is coming and what would actually, how are our OEs planning for this? And the third, in terms of your localization plan, when you had this, when you took over as the Bosch MD a couple of years back, from the target point of view, which you set for yourself and for the firm, where are we? Have we met the target? Have we exceeded the target? What are the targets you have set for yourself? Thank you.

Karin Gilges

I would start with the export. So it is not black and white because we have lines where we are, of course, competitive, but there is no demand in Europe currently. We also have to see this. I can give you some very good examples where we export, this is the NOx sensor, this is a spark plug, t his is the certain injectors where we deliver volumes to Europe. But besides the competitiveness, and we are increasing our competitiveness here in India because we have a very good productivity increase, etc., quality. We got, again, several awards for our plants here. But besides this, there has to be a demand also in Europe. So therefore, it is not black and white. I can only give you quite successful examples where we permanently deliver also into other markets.

Guruprasad Mudlapur

Maybe just to add to that statement . Normally, the competitiveness is based on landed cost at the OEM or in that location. So we may be competitive locally because of certain things, but logistics may not make it competitive towards a landed cost in that location. So there are multiple factors and multiple elements which come in. So it is not one simple straightforward answer. Every product category has to be looked at uniquely to assess whether the landed cost at the customer makes sense, and then how do we take that discussion forward.

Karin Gilges

But perhaps to give you a little bit more idea, another very good example where we took over for the so -called Zexel Pumps, all volumes and all the whole portfolio from Japan, we are producing it in our plant in Jaipur, and we are exporting this now to Japan. That means we are now the single source for these pumps for the Japanese customers.

Laxminarayan

The other two questions in terms of emission norms in tractors and localization?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

Yes. Tractor emission norms, as you know, TRAM 5 is sort of on hold right now, and we will see as and when that changes, we will update you. In terms of localization, see, when I took over and we sort of communicated that the intent is to continuously increase our localization content, we are very much on track with that. And as you can see also from our efforts and results, we are continuously increasing our localization content. It is not a switch on, switch off kind of a situation wh ere overnight we can say we change everything. And there are multiple other dynamics that play out in the market in geopolitics, tariffs, many other things. So a lot of these things are elements which get factored into making a localization decision. If it is pure India for India, I think it is much easier to handle. But if the volumes have to go beyond India, then we will have to factor multiple other things. But we are on plan and we will continuously increase localization.

Annamalai Jayaraj

Thank you. Due to lack of time, that was the last question. Do you want to make any closing comments, sir?

Guruprasad Mudlapur

No, I think we have had a very good year and a very good quarter under the prevailing difficult circumstances. And I believe that we are on a good track also as we go forward. And we look forward to a more stabilized business environment. Although I talked of BANI as a concept, but we look forward to a more stabilized business environment with a little more certainty on tariffs and how things pan out and of course, also on geopolitics. Let us hope that we continue our growth track as it is right now. Thank you, everyone.

Annamalai Jayaraj

On behalf of B &K Securit ies, we thank all the participants for joining the call. And special thanks to Bosch Management for taking time out for the call. Have a good day.

Karin Gilges

Thank you.

Guruprasad Mudlapur

Thank you, everyone. Bye-bye. NOTE This document is a transcript and may contain transcription errors. This transcript may not be 100 percent accurate and may contain misspelling and other inaccuracies. While the transcript has been edited for clarity, the Company takes no responsibility for such errors.