Employees at Bosch GmbH's production line in Stuttgart, Germany. The company also has plants in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing, and Dongguan, which together produced 236 million units of power tools in 2011. [Simon Dawson / Bloomberg]

German firm attributes strong 2011 performance to power-tool products

The German industrial company Bosch GmbH said its power tools division in China had a successful year in 2011 as sales increased 26 percent, one of the highest growth rates among all countries, as it shifted its attention to China's huge medium-end market.

The strong performance in China helped the Asia-Pacific region increase 17 percent, the second-highest regional growth rate after Latin America.

The company's 2011 worldwide sales totaled 3.8 billion euros ($4.95 billion), up 7 percent despite global economic turbulence.

"Our Asia-Pacific market has outperformed our global market, thanks mainly to various new products tailor-made for our valued Asian customers, like the T-Edition for mid-price-point users in China.

"The new products proved very popular among users from the region's rapidly-expanding customer base, especially in emerging markets," said Heiko Fischer, senior vice-president, Bosch Power Tools Sales Asia & Pacific.

"With the launch of our brand-new T-Edition power tools, Bosch Power Tools China achieved an extraordinary performance last year, which was largely the result of consistent research and development, new products and marketing activities under our 'Local for Local' strategy," added Tang Kim Kok, regional sales director of Bosch Power Tools China.

In March last year, Bosch Power Tools China introduced eight new products under the new T-Edition product series. According to the company, the idea is to provide basic tools without sacrificing Bosch's high-quality approach. The target group for the T-Edition tools is China's 230 million farm workers.

"Due to successful market positioning, expanding sales channels and a lively nationwide marketing campaigns, sales of T-Edition products exceeded 500,000 units within one year of their launch," said Fischer. "In 2012, Bosch Power Tools China will expect growth of a similar magnitude."

He added that Bosch Power Tools will expand its investment in research and development, and embark on local recruitment plans to meet the demands of an expanding domestic power tool market. Six more new models will be added to expand the range of T-Edition products.

China has become one of the largest producers and markets of power tools. Since 2006, the industry has grown about 12 percent a year. In 2011, production reached 236 million units of power tools, up 8.9 percent.

Bosch Power Tools China has established four plants - in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing and Dongguan - and Asia's largest technical development and research center in Hangzhou, with more than 3,800 employees.

lifangfang@chinadaily.com.cn