Bosch Home Comfort Group Confident of the Future Despite Difficult Market Environment

WETZLAR/FRANKFURT, Germany — In a difficult global market environment characterized by persisting macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges, the Bosch Home Comfort Group was unable to isolate itself from the weak economy but managed to de­fend its leading position in the industrial sector. At approximately $4.4 billion euros, sales in the financial year 2024 were down by 12.5% on the previous year nominally and by 11.8% in exchange rate adjusted terms. It was primarily the reduced consumption and consumer spending, both for heat pumps and other heat generators, that led to the subdued sentiment in the European heating market and had a negative impact on business.

 

In the North America region, by contrast, the Bosch Home Comfort Group was able to grow its sales by a nominal 6% compared to the previous year. Increasing by 11% – and thus above the market average – U.S. sales of air conditioners made an important contribution to this growth. Sales in Africa also picked up by 9%, essentially in the water heater segment. The indus­trial boiler segment defied the general negative market trend, clearly growing its international sales by just under 11% compared to the previous year. At $256 million euros, the Bosch Home Comfort Group maintained its spending on research and development at the high level of the previous year in 2024. The company employed 13,800 associates as of Dec. 31.

 

Demand for heating technology in Europe declined noticeably in 2024, namely by 34% for heat pumps and by 14% for boilers. The Bosch Home Comfort Group’s position in the heat pump market nevertheless improved notice­ably in Germany and Europe.

 

“Our customers are particularly open to heat pump technology, and we support them with our comprehensive range of training cour­ses,” said Jan Brockmann, CEO of the Bosch Home Comfort Group. The Bosch Home Comfort Group also strengthened its position in air conditioners in Europe and North America. “Despite the current global economic climate and the volatile subsidy situation, this broad positioning makes us optimistic about the future. We will emerge stronger from the weak market phase, also thanks to the outstanding perfor­mance of our associates. At an international level, we are cautiously opti­mistic about the year 2025 as a whole. The European market for heating, ventila­tion, and air conditioning is unlikely to start recovering slowly before 2026,” Brock­mann added.

 

Announced in July 2024, the planned $8 billion U.S. dollar acquisition of the HVAC business of Johnson Controls and Hitachi is the largest acquisition in the history of Bosch and an important step on the way toward becoming a global player for the home of the future. The trans­action com­prises 16 production facilities and 12 development sites employing some 12,000 associates in over 30 countries worldwide. The product portfolio covers the full range of HVAC solutions for residential and small commercial buildings and includes well-known brands such as York or Coleman in the USA and Hitachi in Asia and Europe, for which Bosch will be granted a long-term license.

 

“We act from a position of strength and are esta­blishing a global presence with the planned acquisition. This enables us to offer efficient and innovative heating, ventilation and air conditioning solutions world­wide and push forward the full spectrum of electrification,” Brockmann explained.

 

With the planned acquisition, the Bosch Home Comfort Group wants to expand its presence in growth markets such as the USA and Asia and assume a leading market position in the promising heating, ventilation and air conditioning market.

 

“We are also gaining strength in Western and Southern Europe, complementing our existing leading position in North and Central Europe. We will almost double our sales in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning market to about nine million euros and thus accelerate our growth. The preparations for the closing, which is scheduled for mid-2025, are in full swing and entirely on track. We look forward to working with our future colleag­ues and to the new opportunities that will arise for all of us,” said Brockmann.

 

Bosch expects the global market for HVAC solutions relevant to the company to grow by around 40% by 2030. This growth will be driven by technological progress, the fight against climate change and new regulations.

 

“Heat pumps and hybrid heat pump systems remain our key to achieving the climate goals in the building sector. That´s why we will stick to our plans to invest over one billion euros in our Euro­pean development and production network for heat pumps by 2030,” said Brockmann.