Press release

Along with the entire industry, Europe’s leading home appliances manufacturer is looking back on a challenging year. Geopolitical crises, the tense economic situation around the world, and the resulting stagnation in the global home appliance market created difficult conditions. While in previous years BSH had been able to benefit from a pandemic-related boom in the consumer goods business, high inflation, massive rises in interest rates, and the resulting worldwide downward trend in real estate markets put a significant damper on the consumer climate in 2023. “The persistent global economic and geopolitical crises have fundamentally changed the conditions for the entire home appliance industry,” Metz said. “In a challenging environment, BSH has once again demonstrated its resilience, with overall performance significantly better than the market. That is mainly thanks to the dedicated commitment of our around 60,000 employees around the world.”

Exchange rate effects weigh on turnover in all regions

Despite stable market shares, the Region North America (USA/Canada) saw turnover decline by 11.3%, primarily due to very weak demand and a highly competitive environment.

The significant decrease in turnover – by 10.5 % – in the Region Greater China was mainly attributed to negative exchange rate effects and the slowdown in the Chinese economy. BSH continues to be the largest non-Chinese manufacturer of home appliances in China, although it faces fierce price competition from appliance producers in Asia.

Intensified by the downturn of real estate markets and the resulting impact on the important built-in business, the number of home appliances sold also went down in the Region Europe. Higher average prices were able to limit the decline in turnover to 6.3%. Despite the drop in performance, especially in the home market of Germany, there were also some positive results, with BSH achieving increases in turnover in southern Europe, for example.

In the Region Emerging Markets, which includes areas such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the African continent, turnover was down only slightly, by 2.2%. Leaving the fully completed withdrawal from the Russia business out of account, BSH recorded slight turnover growth, driven especially by the positive development in Türkiye.

Clear roadmap for the future and growth target in all regions

BSH is confident about the future. “Our aim is clear: With outstanding brands and powerful, innovative, and durable products, we want to inspire our consumers while at the same time leading to the success of our customers and retail partners,” Metz emphasizes. “To this end we are pursuing a strategic roadmap for the future: Since we want to continue to grow successfully in all BSH regions, we are further expanding our presence in local markets.” Globally, this means investing in a new service and logistics center in Türkiye and a new oven factory in Egypt for the African market.

BSH Home Appliances Corporation North America will play a significant role in this growth, according to Region North America CEO Stefan Koss: “At our new factory in Monterrey, Mexico, the first cooling appliances for our North American market will roll off the production line in mid-2024. At our new BSH Experience and Design Centers coming in Houston, Washington, D.C., and Beverly Hills, Calif., as well as the newly opened locations in Vancouver and Miami, we will give consumers an all-encompassing feel for our Bosch, Thermador, and Gaggenau brands and support our customers and partners, including developers, designers, and architects. This will also help us to successfully market to our builder business.”

Innovations with real added value for consumers

Under its powerful brand portfolio, BSH also launched new innovative products worldwide in 2023, which offer tailored solutions for consumer needs. Notable in 2023 from BSH Region North America were the launches of Bosch’s next generation dishwasher line, the Pro Harmony® Liberty® Induction Range from Thermador, and Gaggenau’s Essential Induction cooktop. Numerous upcoming launches from the region include Bosch’s Fully Automatic Espresso Machine that launched at CES 2024, new laundry from Bosch, and the new Bottom Freezer Collection from Thermador.

Growth in the Laundry Care product families and Customer Service

The decline in house and apartment purchases last year led to a significant reduction in kitchen sales and therefore lower overall demand for home appliances, especially in the built-in segment. This is particularly evident in the product family Cooking, in other words, ovens and cooktops, as well as in Cooling and Dish Care. Positive performance came from the product family Laundry Care and our Customer Service with its comprehensive service portfolio. With respect to Consumer Products, the product division for small domestic home appliances, turnover was down 7.2%; this was caused by, among other factors, the flooding-related production interruptions at our Slovenian production site in Nazarje. The production has been restored and delivery capability has been gradually improving ever since.

Record expenditures on research and development secure basis for growth targets

Thanks to proactive planning, BSH stands on a solid economic foundation, even in these challenging times, and can continue to make targeted investments in its future. With capital expenditure of 600 million euros, around 4% of turnover, BSH is focused on implementing its product and growth strategy in all regions. “With a record total of around 850 million euros, we are investing more in research and development than ever before, thus laying the foundation for achieving our ambitious growth targets as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of home appliances,” says CFO Gerhard Dambach.

Sustainable products and production processes

BSH continues to invest in sustainability: In the past year alone, BSH invested over 10 million euros in more than 270 energy efficiency measures, thus saving around 35 gigawatt hours of energy in production. For example, a heat recovery system was installed at the German cooling appliance plant in Giengen, and the largest photovoltaic system of the entire Bosch Group was constructed in China.

The use of materials that are as environmentally friendly as possible already play an important role in development and production: Since September 2023, dishwashers from the Dillingen factory in Germany have been manufactured using partially stainless steel with a carbon footprint that is 47% lower than that of conventional stainless steel.¹ It is used throughout Europe in dishwashers in energy classes A and B.

BSH also places a focus on quality and durability. To boost repairs as a more sustainable alternative to replacements, BSH extended the availability of spare parts last year to up to 15 years for large appliances and to up to 10 years for small appliances.

Outlook for fiscal year 2024

Even though the past year was challenging, we are optimistic about the future. “Our company has been successful for over 55 years and is in a robust position in the current economic environment – with a clear roadmap for the future, outstanding brands, convincing innovations, and a strong team,” Metz said. “We again want to take an active part in shaping the market in 2024, inspire consumers, and lead our customers to success in order to achieve profitable growth in all regions.

1 In the production process, CO2-reduced stainless steel is mixed with conventional stainless steel.

1 This refers to all functionally relevant and storable parts for appliances produced after 1 January 2023.

About BSH Home Appliances Corporation

BSH Home Appliances Corporation produces and markets small and major home appliances that are known across North America for their high-quality and superior innovation. BSH sells its Gaggenau, Thermador and Bosch branded products throughout North America, through distributors, independent appliance dealers, national and regional retailers, builders and large buying groups. BSH Home Appliances Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of BSH Home Appliances Group, headquartered in Munich, Germany, the largest manufacturer of home appliances in Europe and one of the leading companies in the sector worldwide. Manufacturing facilities are located in New Bern, North Carolina, and LaFollette, Tennessee. BSH Technology and Development Centers are located in Oak Ridge and Caryville, Tennessee and New Bern, North Carolina. https://www.bsh-group.com/us/

About BSH

BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, with a total turnover of some EUR 14.8 billion and around 60,000 employees in 2023, is a global leader in the home appliance industry. The company’s brand portfolio includes 12 well-known appliance brands like Bosch, Siemens, Gaggenau, and Neff as well as the ecosystem brand Home Connect and service brands like Kitchen Stories. BSH produces at 37 factories and is represented in some 50 countries.

BSH is a company of the Bosch Group.

https://www.bsh-group.com/

https://www.bsh-group.com/sustainability/environment

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