Bosch has made serious inroads into the international HVAC market over the past 12 months with sales revenues increasing seven per cent in 2015.
Sales for the Bosch Thermotechnology Division reached EUR 3.3 billion. The dvision chair, Uwe Glock, said growth can be attributed to demand for its wallhung boilers, water heaters and floor-standing boilers.
“We launched an entirely new generation of devices in 2015. They are web-enabled, intuitive and easy to operate by touchscreen and up to 30 per cent quicker to install,” he said.
“These devices strengthen our position as the world market leader in heating systems for residential buildings and set new standards for our line of industry.”
Bosch Thermotechnology is also making good progress in the field of commercial and industrial HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning) applications.
Glock said the company made a great step forward on its way towards becoming an international systems supplier by forming a partnership with Midea in China last year.
Midea agreed to establish a joint venture for VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow) systems for the heating and air-conditioning of commercial buildings. Production began in Hefei, China, last month.
“The joint venture will expand the technology portfolio of Bosch Thermotechnology for large-scale systems. This will open up promising growth opportunities for us in the international HVAC market,” Glock said.
Figures from Technavio Research show that VRF technology is one of the strongest growing segments of the market.
Technavio Research analyst, Anju Ajaykumar, said revenue for the global VRF AC market is set to exceed $US20 billion by 2020. “It is growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of almost 12 per cent,” he said.
“The future of the global VRF AC market looks promising especially in the Americas due to the growing popularity of VRFs over small chillers.
“At present APAC is the largest consumer of VRFs followed by Europe.”
Meanwhile, Bosch opened a new production facility for gas water heaters in Mexico late last year. Glock said Mexico is gaining importance as a place for business.
"The new production facility represents an important step for our growth strategy in the North American market and to expand our leading position in the international domestic hot water market as a whole,” he said.