Bosch confident of outstripping rivals

       German power-tools manufacturer Bosch is confident its operations in Thailand and Asia Pacific will this year grow at three times the industry average.
       The firm's power-tool business growth would be at least last year's 12%, said Klaus Thunig, vice-president of Bosch Power Tools Asia Pacific.
       The company's current growth rate is three times the Asia-Pacific market's of about 4% to 1.3 billion.The 2-billion North America market plunged deepest, by 10% last year, while Europe, the world's largest portable electric power tools market, dropped by 3%to a market value of 3.9 billion."Our strategy is innovation. If the market does not grow, you need to convince users to invest and benefit from innovations. We will keep up investment on research and development, upgrading plants and marketing," said Mr Thunig.
       Products launched in the last two years now provide 35% of Bosch's sales.
       Latin America's power-tools market,one of the smallest, surged by 18% to
       500,000, while that in the Middle East and Africa rose by 4% to 400,000.Bosch last year recorded global sales for power tool products of 3.15 billion,a 3.3% year-on-year increase. Latin America grew 20%, Asia-Pacific 12%,Europe 5% and North America -12%.
       The company this year targets 7%growth for its Thai operations despite the fact the overall market shrank, said Chaiyaporn Ratanachetkul, general manager of Robert Bosch (Thailand).
       The group has nearly 600 manufacturing sites in 37 countries and produces products ranging from parts for the automotive and industrial goods sectors to domestic power tools. It manufactures at 62 sites in the Asia-Pacific, most in China, followed by Japan and India.
       While Thailand's construction sector shrank 17% in the second quarter, the company is confident of an economic rebound next year. It expects its local power-tools sales to grow by 10% in 2010, he said.
       Bosch's product range includes Bosch Blue cordless drills and screwdrivers and Skil domestic power tools, accessories and measuring tools. Thai sales were 80% from Bosch Blue,10% from accessories, 8-9% from Skil and 1-2% from measuring tools, said Mr Chaiyaporn.
       "The highest growth was Skil, which is up 50% from last year," he said. The company expects Skil products to grow by 82% year-on-year on 2009.
       "Skil is priced 30% to 40% lower than Bosch Blue. We plan to expand sales channels into Tesco Lotus, where many Chinese brands are on the shelf. We're confident we can beat rivals with our after-sale services," he said.
       "Bosch will raise its local market share by three to four percentage points from the current 30% with its Skil brand and lithium-ion rechargeable battery technology for cordless power tools, he said.