Looming slowdowns in automotive production and the blow of an expected recession are not going to keep Bosch from forging ahead, says Mike Mansuetti, president of Bosch North America.
Even facing new uncertainties as to how the world might change after the COVID-19 pandemic, Mansuetti said he does not expect to shelve Bosch's plans in artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and electric vehicle platforms.
Mansuetti: Eye on ramping up
"We haven't changed our priorities regarding technology," Mansuetti told Automotive News on May 5.
"It's not a matter of 'if,' it's just a question of 'when' and the adoption rate."
Some industry assumptions appeared to be changing even months before the brewing coronavirus was declared a pandemic.
Global auto production was expected to fall for a third consecutive year in 2020, and like any global supplier, Robert Bosch prepared to deal with the fallout.
CEO Volkmar Denner predicted last October there would be no growth in vehicle production until 2025.
The arrival of the pandemic then triggered a rapid industry decline, adding urgency to Denner's prediction. Bosch said at the end of April that it expects auto production to fall by at least 20 percent this year.
The downturn leaves Bosch — the world's largest auto supplier, with worldwide sales to automakers of $49.5 billion in 2018 — facing new challenges.
The German megasupplier took a sizable hit in the first quarter from the production halt stemming from the pandemic, with Bosch Group sales falling by 7.3 percent.
But Mansuetti remains optimistic about future technologies, even as consumer trends evolve. He said he assumes the shared-services economy might now change and expects that Bosch's expertise in sensing, among other technologies, will be called on to answer different consumer demands.
"We've always thought that Level 2, Level 2+ is where the market opportunities are," Mansuetti said. "Even up to hands-free Level 3 — it has a more sound business case.
But that technology might also now lend itself to nonautomotive needs in a post-pandemic world, such as delivery robots.
"The technology is basically the same," he added. "The sensors, the path planning needed, the prediction — all those things that we're working on and can be applied in a different use case."
Mansuetti must first tackle operational demands after weeks of suspended production at some North American plants.
"We're looking forward to continuing with our priorities," Mansuetti said, "getting back to somewhat of a sense of normalcy and ramping up and meeting the expectations of our customers."
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