Bosch Rexroth Looks Ahead After a Difficult Fiscal Year 2024

Summary

April 10, 2025 - Bosch Rexroth closed fiscal 2024 in a difficult market environment with significantly lower sales than in the two very strong previous years. Sales in 2024 amounted to around 6.5 billion euros. This is 13.6% less than in 2023. The economic conditions were also reflected in order intake in 2024. At 6.1 billion euros, it was around 4.9% below the previous year's figure. This means that the decline was already significantly smaller than in 2023. For the current fiscal year, Bosch Rexroth expects order intake and sales to stabilize overall. With a view to future growth, the company continues to make targeted investments in new buildings, facilities and research and development, thus supporting its long-term growth strategy. At the end of 2024, Bosch Rexroth employed around 32,600 associates worldwide.

"As expected, 2024 was a challenging year. We are currently seeing that the situation is stabilizing and are already working to be prepared for a rebound in business. We are looking ahead and want to emerge stronger from this phase in order to remain successful even in a difficult environment," said Dr. Steffen Haack, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bosch Rexroth AG.

The longer-term measures with which Bosch Rexroth is counteracting the economic weakness worldwide and adapting to the structural changes in the market environment include, for example, the bundling of activities at locations in China, America and Germany, as well as adjustments in production, development, administration and sales.

In China, Bosch Rexroth now manages the activities of the product divisions much more independently. This will enable the team to act faster in Bosch Rexroth's third-largest market and develop, produce and sell products that are specifically tailored to local requirements.

In the Factory Automation division, Bosch Rexroth is focusing its global sales more strongly on future-oriented industries such as the production of batteries, semiconductors, and consumer goods.
Commitment to customers and innovation

Bosch Rexroth's commitment to its customers and partners continues unabated. For example, the customer and innovation center CU.BE in Ulm was modernized. There, the company will use concrete use cases to show how companies can optimize their plants and factories economically and operate more sustainably at the same time.

Bosch Rexroth presented a number of innovations at the Hannover Messe

Cryogenic pumps and solutions for hydrogen filling stations allow hydrogen to be refuelled economically and safely. In this way, they contribute to the development of an economical hydrogen infrastructure. Bosch Rexroth developed it at a new R&D center in California in partnership with FirstElement Fuel, the market leader for commercially operated hydrogen filling stations.

The Hydraulic Hub online platform, powered by artificial intelligence, provides quick access to hydraulic service information, increasing the efficiency of service and maintenance teams.

For electromobility, Bosch Rexroth offers solutions for manufacturing from cells to complete batteries as well as solutions for recycling at the end of the product life cycle.

The further increase in customer satisfaction proves that the company continues to meet customer requirements at a high level with its products, high quality and reliable deliveries.

Sales lower in all main markets

At 6.5 billion euros, sales were 13.6% below the previous year's figure (2023: 7.6 billion euros). Adjusted for exchange rate effects, the decline in sales was 12.9%. The sharpest decline (around 19%) was in Germany and Europe. Bosch Rexroth generates around half of its sales in this region. In North and South America, sales were around 13% below the previous year's figure. In the Asia/Pacific/Australia region, sales declined by just under 1% overall–but the decline of 4.9% in China, Bosch Rexroth's third-largest market worldwide, could not be fully offset by the good business developments in India (+10.2%) and Malaysia (+39.7%), for example, due to their significantly lower business volume.

Order intake: Decline lower than in the previous year

Order intake in 2024 amounted to around 6.1 billion euros. This is about 300 million euros or 4.9% less than in the previous year. The decline is therefore significantly smaller than in 2023, when it was still 13.1%. The improvement in the values in the course of 2024 indicates a stabilization at a lower level in 2025. However, in view of the global economic environment, which continues to be characterized by uncertainty, customers are often still using their inventories and remain reluctant to make investment decisions.

Outlook for 2025: Stabilization and an outlook for an upturn in business

"We are currently seeing the first signs of stabilization for the current fiscal year. In the current economic and political environment, consistent cost reductions and a high degree of flexibility remain necessary," said Holger von Hebel, CFO of Bosch Rexroth AG. At the same time, the company continues to make targeted investments in its global production network and in important future fields such as digitalization, artificial intelligence and hydrogen technologies. "With continuously improved products, solutions and services, we support our customers in being economically successful even in difficult times and acting more sustainably. We are ready when business picks up and our customers invest more again," said Haack.

Targeted investments and continuity in research and development

Bosch Rexroth adjusted its own investment volume to the situation in 2024 and, at around 270 million euros, brought it back to the level of 2022 after the previous year's peak. In 2024, the focus was on investments in production and logistics buildings at existing locations in Germany, North America and Romania. With around 460 million euros for longer-term investments in research and development, the ratio is 7%. These targeted investments and the high level of commitment to research and development, even in a difficult environment, underscore the company's confidence that the business will recover and develop stably in the long term.

Partnerships as a success factor

Partnerships continue to be a success factor at Bosch Rexroth in order to benefit from mutually complementary competencies in development, to increase the speed of processing markets or to strengthen the regional presence and thus customer proximity. This is achieved, for example, by the joint ventures Le-HydrauliX and Le-ElectriX in China, which were expanded in 2024, the development partnership with FirstElement Fuel in the USA, the consistently expanded cooperation around the ctrlX AUTOMATION automation platform, or the close cooperation with sales and technology partners. At the Hannover Messe 2024 and 2025, more than 20 partners presented themselves at the Bosch Rexroth booth.
 
As a leading global supplier of drive and control technologies, Bosch Rexroth ensures efficient, powerful and safe movement in machines and systems of all types and sizes. The company bundles global application experience in the market segments of mobile and industrial applications as well as factory automation. With intelligent components, customized system solutions, engineering and services, Bosch Rexroth is creating the conditions for fully networkable applications. Bosch Rexroth offers its customers hydraulics, electric drive and control technology, transmission technology, and linear and assembly technology, including software and interfaces to the Internet of Things. With a presence in more than 80 countries, around 32,600 employees generated sales of 6.5 billion euros in 2024.
 

About the Bosch Group

The Bosch Group is a leading international technology and services company with around 417,900 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2024). It generated in the 2024 financial year, according to preliminary figures, sales of 90.5 billion euros. The business activities are divided into four business sectors: Mobility, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods and Energy and Building Technology. With its business activities, the company aims to help shape overarching trends such as automation, electrification, digitalization, networking and the focus on sustainability. The broad positioning across industries and regions strengthens Bosch's innovative strength and robustness. With its proven expertise in sensor technology, software and services, the company is able to offer customers cross-domain solutions from a single source. In addition, Bosch uses its expertise in connectivity and artificial intelligence to develop and manufacture intelligent, user-friendly, and sustainable products. With "Invented for Life," Bosch wants to help improve people's quality of life and conserve natural resources.