“Since last year, I rarely attend the forum, not afraid to go, but will be ‘encircled and pursued’, what is the reason? The core is missing.” On September 23, Chen Yudong, president of Bosch China, said helplessly at the “China New Energy Vehicle Development Forum 2022” held in Wuhan, Hubei province.

At the beginning of the speech, Chen Yudong used his personal experience in Wuhan to explain the problem of chip supply shortage to the automotive industry, especially the vehicle enterprise. “From noon yesterday to this afternoon (September 23), I was surrounded by four customers asking, ‘When can we deliver? Everyone is concerned about chip supply in the fourth quarter of this year. In fact, we were expecting to be out of stock of 300,000 controllers (VCU) in September, which is very serious.”

IMFF4703X Chen Yudong said that at present, the chip shortage has led to an imbalance between supply and demand in the semiconductor industry and automotive companies, and the basic lack of 300,000 controllers every month has caused many companies to fail to complete production and marketing tasks. “I am very sorry here, the Oems can not complete the task, we have a big responsibility.”

The reporter of China Business News learned in the interview that Bosch, as the head supplier of the global auto parts industry, plays a pivotal role in the automotive industry chain. Data show that in 2021, Bosch achieved sales of 78.7 billion euros worldwide, of which the automotive business accounted for 58%, reaching 45.3 billion euros.

“As a technology company, we do not seek to be the biggest, but to provide the best service, the best product, the best innovation.” Chen Yudong said.

The Chinese market is also indispensable for Bosch. Chen Yudong provided data show that in 2021, Bosch completed 128.6 billion yuan of sales in China, an increase of 9.6%; The automotive business accounted for 75 percent and the non-automotive business accounted for 25 percent, including industrial technology, energy and building technology, and consumer goods.

“The new energy, digitalization and more ecological transformation of the automotive industry also make Bosch must face the future. Bosch is a company that benefits most from competition, which makes us dare not slow down, which makes us go faster.” Chen Yudong said.

For the development of the domestic market, Chen Yudong said that Bosch is facing the future of electrification, intelligence and network layout.

In terms of electrification, Bosch is going a little faster, in addition to batteries, Bosch’s solutions cover hybrid, plug-in hybrid (PHEV), pure electricity and fuel cells, and provide technical solutions in China. At the same time, Bosch is also involved in two-wheelers, cars, light trucks, heavy trucks and other markets, in each area of the layout of different electrification solutions.

IMFF4703X In terms of intelligence and networking, Bosch has laid out many intelligent chassis and steering products. The current star product iBooster + ESP combination is the most important intelligent braking product required for new energy vehicles. At the same time, Bosch provides a large number of sensing semiconductors in the semiconductor field, which are widely used in air bag controllers and vehicle dynamic control. In addition, Bosch also provides a lot of “thermal management system +VCU+ actuator + sensor” combination products for smart cars.

Not only that, according to Chen Yudong, for the development of China’s new energy industry, Bosch is also further active layout. “Since 2021, we have established a fuel cell joint venture in China and laid out a steering mechanism manufacturing and research and development center in Wuhan. When completed, this R&D center will be our main steering test base and design software development base in China.”

For the development status of the domestic new energy vehicle market, Chen Yudong also shared some of his worries and thoughts in a live speech.

First of all, in terms of chips, Chen Yudong bluntly: “The most worried or chip supply.” According to its introduction, Bosch is not only a chip manufacturer, but also the largest chip user and purchaser. At present, from fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles, the number of chips required by a car is roughly 500 ~ 3000 pieces, Bosch’s self-produced chips in the world’s average of only 17 pieces per car, the main controller chip is about 750 pieces, most of which, more than 700 pieces are purchased, mainly from the world’s top ten semiconductor companies.

“At present, the chip industry is also thriving in the country, we hope that domestic chip companies can more quickly and unswervingly develop car gauge chip, but this industry investment is large, long cycle, I hope that the chip companies can make more efforts in China.” Chen Yudong suggested that at the same time, he also hopes to encourage international mainstream chip companies to invest in China. At present, most international chip companies are only doing packaging in China, hoping to have more fabs and packaging factories to come to China.

In terms of new energy vehicle technology innovation, Chen Yudong said that he hoped that all new energy vehicle companies could balance the relationship between the market and innovation, comply with the basic business logic, and balance commercial operations on the basis of technological innovation.