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25 AutoData | December 2018 B osch has two strong reasons to celebrate 2018: first, in May, it consolidated the results of 2017, which showed the growth return after two years in decline. This celebration led to the next one, in November: victory in the AutoData Award 2018 in the Systems Suppliers category. For Besaliel Botelho, President and CEO of Robert Bosch Latin America, “It is a great satisfaction, a great honor, it brings us great pride. On behalf of the whole team, I thank you. I’m taking the trophy to share it with our people. The importance is great and even more a year like this. Bosch continues to invest and really believes in Brazil: recently, we have participated in the Salão do Automóvel in a strong way to show the technologies of the future in the mobility area. The recognition means that we are on the right way in Latin America. We thank AutoData and we also recognize the great work that the publisher has done”. Bosch closed last year with a 7% increase on its Latin American revenue, which totaled R$ 6.1 billion. Brazil, responsible for 80% of Latin American business, recorded R$ 4.9 billion in sales. The mobility area, which includes the automotive businesses, is the most relevant inside the Bosch Group, which also operates in the area of consumer goods, industrial technology, energy and building technology. As it represents 65% of sales in the region, the evolution in the automotive industry in Brazil last year was fundamental for that growth resumption of the systems supplier. In the first quarter of 2018 the result was also positive, at an index close to 20%. The process, however, was not easy: the factories went through many adjustments and the workforce was reduced in 1,6 thousand people – today, the company employs 8,3 thousand employees in Brazil. There have been efforts to increase productivity, change the portfolio and search for business in other segments, such as agribusiness. In 2017, Bosch invested R$ 127 million, a value that is higher than the annual average of R$ 100 million, in line modernization and structure, portfolio development and Industry 4.0. And another R$ 162 million went to research and development: there are 360 professionals dedicated exclusively to the mobility area. “This award means that we are on the right way in Latin America. We thank AutoData and we also recognize the great work that the publisher has done.” Besaliel Botelho, president and CEO of Robert Bosch Latin America On the previous page, Emy Yanagizawa, of Rhodia, delivers the trophy to Besaliel Botelho