May 31 (SeeNews) - German group Robert Bosch said that its consolidated sales in Bulgaria rose 24% year-on-year in 2021, reaching almost 367 million levs ($201.6 million/187.6 million euro), as all local divisions registered growth.
At the end of December 2021, Robert Bosch employed 690 staff in Bulgaria - an increase of 21% compared to a year earlier, as headcount at its Bosch Engineering Centre Sofia continued to rise, the group said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.
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The centre, which opened in 2019, now employs close to 500, working on driver assistance technologies, such as driver and passenger monitoring systems for cars and autonomous shuttles, battery systems for Bosch e-Bike Systems, and other vehicle electrification and connectivity solutions.
In addition to the expansion of its Sofia base with a new building of nearly 5,500 square meters, the German group also invested in opening new hardware and software laboratories and vehicle test facilities as well as in educational programmes and the professional development of automotive sector staff.
By end-2022, Bosch.IO Bulgaria, the Bulgarian unit of the Bosch Group for Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) IoT projects, plans to add 30% to its current technology workforce of over 200.
"In 2021, Bosch Group in Bulgaria significantly increased its results and overcame the impact of the coronavirus pandemic," Konstantin Konov, general manager of Robert Bosch EOOD and representative of the Bosch Group in Bulgaria, said in the statement. "The company copes with the uncertain economic situation thanks to the high commitment of all associates and the stable relationships with our partners," he added.
Looking ahead, Bosch Group projects an annual sales growth of 6% despite the rising costs of energy, raw materials, and logistics and the significant uncertainty created by the war in Ukraine. Sales in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 5.2%, the company said.
The group will prioritise sustainable mobility technology, with its orders relating to electromobility having exceeded 10 billion euro ($10.7 billion) for the first time in 2021. Bosch intends to invest 3 billion euro over three years in climate-neutral technology such as electrification and hydrogen.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)