Bosch Rexroth looks to the future after a difficult year

Turnover in 2024 amounted to around 6.5 billion euros. This is 13.6% less than in 2023. The economic conditions were also reflected in incoming orders in 2024. At 6.1 billion euros, it was around 4.9% below the previous year's figure. This means that the decline was already significantly lower than in 2023. Bosch Rexroth expects order intake and sales to stabilize overall in the current fiscal year. With a view to future growth, the company is continuing to make targeted investments in new buildings, systems and research and development, thereby supporting its long-term growth strategy. At the end of 2024, Bosch Rexroth employed around 32,600 associates worldwide.

"As expected, 2024 was a challenging year. We are currently seeing the situation stabilize and are already working on being prepared for a resurgence in business. We are looking ahead and want to emerge stronger from this phase in order to remain successful even in a difficult environment," says Dr. Steffen Haack, CEO of Bosch Rexroth AG.

The longer-term measures with which Bosch Rexroth is counteracting the economic weakness worldwide and adapting to the structural changes in the market environment include, for example, the bundling of activities at locations in China, America and Germany, as well as adjustments in production, development, administration and sales.

In China, Bosch Rexroth is now managing the activities of the product divisions much more independently. This enables the team in Bosch Rexroth's third-largest market to act more quickly and to develop, produce and sell products that are specially tailored to local requirements.

In the Factory Automation division, Bosch Rexroth is focusing its global sales activities more strongly on future-oriented industries such as the production of batteries, semiconductors and consumer goods.

Commitment to customers and innovations

Bosch Rexroth's commitment to its customers and partners continues unabated. For example, the CU.BE customer and innovation center in Ulm has been modernized. There, the company uses concrete use cases to show how companies can optimize their systems and factories economically and at the same time operate more sustainably.

Bosch Rexroth also presented a number of innovations at the Hannover Messe:

Cryogenic pumps and solutions for hydrogen filling stations enable the economical and safe refueling of hydrogen. They thus contribute to the development of an economical hydrogen infrastructure. Bosch Rexroth has developed them in a new research and development center in California in partnership with FirstElement Fuel, the market leader for commercially operated hydrogen filling stations.

The Hydraulic Hub online platform, which is supported by artificial intelligence, enables quick access to information in hydraulic service and thus increases the efficiency of service and maintenance teams.

For electromobility, Bosch Rexroth offers solutions for production from the cell to the complete battery as well as solutions for recycling at the end of the product life cycle.

The further increase in customer satisfaction proves that the company continues to meet customer requirements at a high level with its products, high quality and reliable deliveries.

Sales lower in all main markets

At 6.5 billion euros, sales were 13.6% below the previous year's figure (2023: 7.6 billion euros). Adjusted for exchange rate effects, the decline in sales amounted to 12.9%. The sharpest decline in sales (around 19 percent) was in Germany and Europe. Bosch Rexroth generates around half of its revenue in this region. In North and South America, sales were around 13 percent below the previous year's figure. In the Asia/Pacific/Australia region, sales fell by just under one percent overall - however, the 4.9 percent decline in China, Bosch Rexroth's third largest market worldwide, was not fully offset by the positive business developments in India (+10.2 percent) or Malaysia (+39.7 percent), for example, due to their significantly lower business volume.

Incoming orders: lower decline than in the previous year

Incoming orders amounted to around 6.1 billion euros in 2024. This is around 300 million euros or 4.9% less than in the previous year. The decline is therefore significantly lower than in 2023, when it amounted to 13.1%. The improvement in values over the course of 2024 indicates a stabilization at a lower level in 2025. However, in view of the global economic environment, which continues to be characterized by uncertainty, customers are often still using their inventories and remain cautious when making investment decisions.

Outlook for 2025: stabilization and focus on growing business

"We are currently seeing the first signs of stabilization for the current fiscal year. In the current economic and political environment, consistent cost reductions and a high degree of flexibility remain necessary," says Holger von Hebel, CFO of Bosch Rexroth AG. At the same time, the company is continuing to make targeted investments in its global production network and in important future fields such as digitalization, artificial intelligence and hydrogen technologies. "With continuously improved products, solutions and services, we are helping our customers to be economically successful even in difficult times and to operate more sustainably. We are ready when business picks up and our customers start investing more again," says Haack.

Targeted investment and continuity in research and development

Bosch Rexroth adjusted its own investment volume to the situation in 2024 and, at around 270 million euros, brought it back to the level of 2022 after the previous year's record figure. The focus in 2024 was on investments in production and logistics buildings at existing locations in Germany, North America and Romania. With around 460 million euros for longer-term investments in research and development, the ratio is 7%. These targeted investments and the high level of commitment to research and development, even in a difficult environment, underline the company's confidence that the business will recover and remain stable in the long term.

Partnerships as a success factor

Partnerships continue to be a success factor at Bosch Rexroth in order to benefit from complementary expertise in development, to increase the speed with which markets are developed or to strengthen regional presence and thus customer proximity. Examples of this include the joint ventures Le-HydrauliX and Le-ElectriX in China, which were expanded in 2024, the development partnership with FirstElement Fuel in the USA, the consistently expanded collaboration around the automation platform ctrlX Automation and the close cooperation with sales and technology partners. More than 20 partners presented themselves at the Bosch Rexroth stand at Hannover Messe 2024 and 2025.