The Bosch Auto Service workshop network is celebrating its centenary.
The first Bosch car repair shop appeared in the city of Hamburg in 1921 and marked the birth of the world's largest network of independent car workshops. Robert Bosch foresaw the need for a network of auto repair shops at the beginning of the 20th century. The repair shop Max Eisenmann & Co from Hamburg in 1921 became the world's first official service station of Robert Bosch AG for the installation of spare parts and car repairs. This is the very first chapter in the history of the emergence and global success of the Bosch Car Service network. With the growth in the number of car owners, the need for specialized expertise in car repair, which goes beyond not only individual states, but also continents, also increased. Today, the Bosch Car Service network is one of the largest networks in the world with a network of independent car repair shops, with 15,000 stations in 150 countries.
Bosch Auto Service network partners receive support in the form of the latest vehicle diagnostic technologies, an efficient spare parts supply chain and marketing activities. Owing to well-organized and collected information on all car models, as well as an advanced support service and advanced diagnostic systems from Bosch, the partners around the world can benefit from the constantly growing expertise of the group. The benefit for end users is the availability of original Bosch spare parts at every station in the network, as well as qualified technical staff who receive regular training.
More than 72,000 specialists are involved in the research and development of the Bosch concern, and investments in this area in 2019, which amounted to 6.1 billion euros. In the same year, Bosch received 4202 patents for new inventions, confirming its status as one of the leading innovators in the field of mobility. “Connectivity, driving automation and new drive systems – modern vehicles are becoming increasingly complex. More and more vehicles are getting driver assistance technologies as well as new multimedia systems with large displays,” comments Thomas Winter, Head of Service Concepts at Bosch. “This is a new challenge for workshops. Bosch is a reliable partner when it comes to the increasingly sophisticated technology of the vehicles of the future. We can guarantee that in the face of the partners of our Bosch Auto Service network, car owners will always have qualified specialists who can be contacted for car maintenance and repair.”
100 years after the opening of the first workshop, the Bosch Auto Service network is one of the leaders in the market of independent car workshops providing a full range of services. Bosch is celebrating this success and is looking to the future with optimism. The main tasks are the further growth of the network and the attraction of new partners, closer interaction with customers and service stations in the field of digital solutions and intelligent use of data. The goal of Bosch is to strengthen its position as a reliable and modern partner road-user from all over the world, not only today, but also in the future.