True.
Address:
Carl-Wery-Strasse 34
D-81739 Munich
Germany
Telephone: (089) 45 90-01
Fax: (089) 45 90-23 47
BSH Hausgeräte GmbH
Statistics:
Joint Venture of Robert Bosch GmbH and Siemens AG
Incorporated: 1967 as Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH
Employees: 34,400
Sales: DEM 6.30 billion ($7.93 billion) (2003)
NAIC: 333415 Air-Conditioning and Warm Air Heating Equipment and Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturing; 335211 Electric Housewares and Household Fan Manufacturing; 335212 Household Vacuum Cleaner Manufacturing; 335221 Household Cooking Appliance Manufacturing; 335222 Household Refrigerator and Home Freezer Manufacturing; 335224 Household Laundry Equipment Manufacturing; 335228 Other Major Household Appliance Manufacturing
Company Perspectives:
A consistent innovation and quality policy governs everything we do and how the company evolves. One of the most important principles embraced by BSH is to offer consumers genuine added value in terms of performance, comfort and ease of use by developing new and improved products. This approach is based on the firm conviction that pushing forward with new technologies not only creates competitive advantages and added convenience for the customer--but also ensures that the environment constantly benefits. Know-how transfer within the BSH group ensures that environmental protection standards are also adopted worldwide. BSH is wholeheartedly committed to the principle of sustainability and to the responsible utilization of resources.
Key Dates:
1967: German industrial giants Robert Bosch GmbH and Siemens AG create Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH), a joint venture specializing in household appliances.
1976: In its first move outside its home country, BSH acquires a stake in Pitsos A.E. of Athens, Greece.
1982: The company acquires the high-end German cooking appliance brand Neff.
1988-89:[fsps*1.5]BSH enters the Spanish market with the acquisitions of Balay, S.A. and Safel, S.A.
1991: A toehold is established in the United States through the export of dishwashers there.
1994: Gaggenau, German producer of high-end cooking appliances, is acquired.
1995: Production of washers begins in China--the first move into that market.
1997: BSH's first U.S. production plant begins operating in New Bern, North Carolina.
1998: Thermador Corporation, U.S.-based maker of high-end cooking appliances, is acquired; the company changes its name to BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH.
2004: Via a $200 million expansion, two new plants are added in New Bern.
Company History:
BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH, a joint venture between German industrial giants Robert Bosch GmbH and Siemens AG, is the largest maker of household appliances in both Germany and Western Europe, and ranks third worldwide, trailing only the Swedish firm AB Electrolux of Sweden and the U.S.-based Whirlpool Corporation. In addition to its flagship Bosch and Siemens brands, BSH also sells products under a number of specialized brands (Gaggenau, Neff, Thermador, Constructa, and Ufesa) and regional brands: Balay (Spain), Lynx (Spain), Profilo (Turkey), Pitsos (Greece), Continental (South America), and Coldex (Peru). At its 43 factories located in 15 countries (Germany, France, Greece, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, China, and Thailand), BSH produces a full range of major household appliances, including cooking equipment, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, and dryers, as well as vacuum cleaners and small appliances such as coffeemakers, food processors, deep fryers, and irons. Its worldwide sales and customer service network is composed of about 70 subsidiary operations in 30 countries. Nearly three-quarters of BSH's sales are generated outside of Germany: 54 percent in Western Europe excluding Germany, 6 percent in Eastern Europe, 5 percent each in North America and Asia, and 3 percent in Latin America. A hallmark of BSH is its consistent aim to establish itself, wherever it operates, as a leader of the premium sector of the market by producing high-quality, innovative products significantly more expensive than the average for that market.
Foundation of BSH: 1967
Bosch and Siemens merged their household appliance operations in 1967, creating a 50-50 joint venture originally called Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH). The rationale behind this joining of forces was to provide a stronger platform for competing in an increasingly global marketplace. Bosch had developed a reputation in Germany for its advanced refrigerators and freezers, based at least in part on its introduction of the first electric domestic refrigerator in 1933. The company extended its range of appliances in the 1950s as part of a diversification drive. In 1952 Bosch introduced the "New Era" electric kitchen appliance, a combination mixer/food processor that could mix, knead, chop, slice, make purees, grind, grate, and more. Next came washing machines, in 1958, and then dishwashers, in 1964. Siemens, which had emerged only in 1966 as an amalgamation of several predecessor firms, had a long history of innovation in household appliances--the first vacuum cleaner in 1906, the first baking oven in 1925, and the first automatic dishwasher in 1964. Key developments in appliances occurred in the immediate aftermath of World War II. In 1949 one of the Siemens predecessors opened a factory in Giengen, West Germany, for the production of refrigerators and freezers and another in Traunreut, West Germany, for cooking appliances and water heaters. These two plants, along with a factory in Berlin where washers and dryers were produced, were contributed to the BSH joint venture in 1967. BSH thus began with three plants, all in West Germany, and about 14,000 employees. First-year revenues of DEM 1 billion were generated in the home country and a few of its neighbors. Western Europe remained the venture's sole focus for nearly the first ten years of its existence.
Whereas major household appliances were BSH's main focus from the start, the company also started out as a manufacturer of consumer electronics products, such as televisions and radios. Fierce competition from Asian importers, however, overwhelmed many Western manufacturers, and BSH soon abandoned the manufacturing of such goods. The company continued to market consumer electronics products made by third parties, before leaving this sector for good in 1996.
BSH produced products under both the Bosch and Siemens names. The venture was able to get off to a strong start because the two brands had similar positions in the market. They were both premium brands known for their high quality and innovation. These characteristics were in clear evidence in the founding year: It was then that BSH introduced the first dishwasher with a stainless steel interior.