Robert Bosch GmbH, the auto industry's largest supplier, said it will invest $420 million (all figures in USD) in its North American automotive business to gear up for electrification amid a barrage of supply chain challenges.
The spending is part of a larger $664-million investment across its North American business units, and will go toward machinery and equipment for each of its automotive plants in North America, including its factory in Charleston, S.C., the company said Tuesday.
Bosch said it received about $11.8 billion in new electrification-related orders from customers worldwide last year.
"As those programs come into play in the next four to five years, we have to be ready for them," Paul Thomas, Bosch executive vice president of mobility solutions, said during a press conference Tuesday at which executives discussed the company's 2021 North American financial results.
The North American automotive business reported sales of $7.9 billion in 2021, up five per cent from a year earlier, the company said.
That increase in automotive revenue occurred despite a host of supply chain challenges that have caused significant headaches across the industry, including a global semiconductor shortage, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising raw materials costs. Thomas said some raw materials costs are currently up to three times higher than in 2020, causing the supplier to raise prices on the parts it sells to automakers.