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Bosch is kicking off a year-long celebration of its Centennial Anniversary in the United States

Bosch is kicking off a year-long celebration of its Centennial Anniversary in the United States. Since its first U.S. office was established in New York City in 1906, the Bosch name has become synonymous with market leadership in automotive original equipment and aftermarket products, industrial automation systems, power tools and accessories, security technology, packaging equipment, thermo-technology and household appliances.

For the last 100 years, Bosch has played a leading role in shaping innovation across a wide variety of advanced technologies. After a century of phenomenal growth, Bosch now has a North American presence in 80 locations, with nearly 23,000 employees and sales of $7.8 billion in 2004. Throughout its history, Bosch has upheld its commitment to innovative strength, efficiency and quality of work.

To celebrate its success and to honor those who made it possible, Bosch has planned events throughout 2006, including a gala celebration in August 2006 in Detroit. Additional events and activities include a traveling historical display, a host of Centennial communications materials, Bosch site celebrations at all U.S. facilities, government relations activities, marketing presence at key industry trade shows and conferences, and an innovation symposium to be held this fall in conjunction with the Carnegie-Bosch Institute in Pittsburgh.

A CENTURY OF INNOVATION

Visionary entrepreneur Robert Bosch founded the “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering” in 1886 in Stuttgart, Germany, where he repaired whatever he could find. Twenty years later, he established an office in New York City to handle the sale of the magneto, an ignition device based on his patented design that would revolutionize the auto industry.

On September 6, 1906, the company was formed in the U.S. as Robert Bosch New York, Incorporated. With capital stock of $25,000, three incorporators signed a certificate forming a corporation to buy and sell machinery and apparatus for constructing engines, motors, motor vehicles and machines powered by gasoline or other forms of power.

In 1898, Bosch tested his ignition device in a Daimler De Dion Bouton and the success of that experiment was the birth of Bosch ignition systems for motor vehicles. Once Bosch opened his U.S. office in 1906, business boomed.

Robert Bosch’s goals were ambitious: to develop high-end technologies and assume global responsibility. Success meant not only economic growth, but also improvement of living and working conditions for company employees. Throughout its history, the company that bears his name has been guided by these principles and still honors them today.

Key global and U.S. product milestones of Bosch and its affiliates include:

1887 – Construction of first Bosch low-voltage magneto for stationary internal-combustion engines
1902 – Delivery of first spark plugs and high-voltage magneto ignition system
1907 – Bosch begins mass production of magnetos in the U.S.
1913 – First complete automotive electrical system comprising a magneto ignition with spark plugs, starter, generator, lighting system and regulator
1928 – First Bosch mass-produced power tool
1933 – First Bosch mass-produced refrigerator
1934 – First U.S. mass-produced diesel injection systems for passenger vehicles
1951 – Development of gasoline injection pumps for vehicle engines
1953 – Bosch begins production of hydraulic equipment; debuts in U.S. in 1968
1964 – Bosch dishwasher is launched; debuts in U.S. in 1991
1973 – First Bosch aseptic thermoforming machine for packaging liquid foods introduced
1976 – Development of the world’s first swivel-arm industrial robot; debuts in U.S. in 1986
1978 – Global launch of ABS, the first series-produced antilock braking system; debuts in U.S. in 1985
1985 – Bosch Platinum spark plug introduced in U.S. market
1989 – TravelPilot navigation system launched
1995 – Introduction of Electronic Stability Program; debuts in U.S. in 1999
1997 – Introduction of diesel common rail direct injection system; debuts in U.S. in 2001
2000 – Series production of adaptive cruise control; debuts in U.S. in 2002
2003 – Introduction of the first-ever power tool in North America to use a Lithium-ion battery
2005 – Introduction of fully-automatic Logixx dishwasher in the U.S.

The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal year 2004, approximately 242,000 associates generated sales of 40 billion euros, approximately 50 billion USD. Set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as ‘Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering,’ the Bosch Group today comprises a manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service network of approximately 260 subsidiaries and more than 10,000 service centers in over 130 countries.

In North America, the Bosch Group manufactures and markets automotive original equipment and aftermarket products, industrial automation and mobile products, power tools and accessories, security technology, thermo-technology, packaging equipment and household appliances. Bosch employs nearly 23,000 associates in more than 80 primary and 20 associated facilities throughout the region with reported sales of $7.8 billion in 2004. This year marks Bosch’s 100th year of operating in the U.S. For more information on the

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