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The market of the future: Bosch wins orders worth billions for vehicle computers

  • Harald Kroeger: “Vehicle computers are the key to significantly reducing the complexity of electronic systems.”
  • Bosch is developing vehicle computers for all automotive applications.
  • Vehicles featuring Bosch central computers have been on the roads since 2019.
  • Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division to start operations in January.
Joern Ebberg

Joern Ebberg

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Stuttgart, Germany – In modern cars, intelligence counts for a lot, and Bosch vehicle computers are there to provide it. These computers, the new all-rounders of automotive electronics, are incorporating ever more functions of individual control units into central, highly powerful electronic modules. For more than a year now, Bosch vehicle computers have been controlling functions such as driver assistance systems and motion in production vehicles. And soon, they will be joined by central computers for cockpit functions and body electronics. When it comes to vehicle computers, therefore, no other company can match Bosch’s broad portfolio, since the supplier of technology and services can offer production-ready computers for every aspect of modern vehicles. And business-wise as well, this is paying off. Bosch has now won orders worth several billion euros for its vehicle computers – 2.5 billion euros’ worth since this past summer alone. “Vehicle computers have huge business potential for Bosch. Even now, our high-performance computers mean that automakers view us as one of their leading engineering and technology partners,” says Harald Kroeger, who sits on the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. Vehicle computers are central to Bosch’s efforts to extend its leading role in software-intensive electronic systems. The market for these systems is worth some 20 billion euros, and is set to grow 15 percent annually between now and 2030. To meet this demand, the new Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division and its 17,000 associates will start operations in January 2021. In this unit, Bosch is bringing together its hardware and software engineering for vehicle computers, sensors, and control units for all vehicle domains.

Vehicle computers have huge business potential for Bosch. Even now, our high-performance computers mean that automakers view us as one of their leading engineering and technology partners.

Harald Kroeger, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH

Automotive electronics is getting fit for the future

In the future, high-performance control units will be a must-have for all cars. These central nodes are where all the car’s “nerves” converge. Thanks to their prodigious computing power of several billion operations per second, central computers are even capable of processing the big data needed for automated driving, data-based services, and permanent software updates. According to McKinsey, software’s share in the value of a vehicle will rise from just 10 percent today to 30 percent in the future. This development underscores how important bits and bytes will be for vehicles in the future. And vehicle computers that can handle such software functions and data volumes will therefore soon be a standard feature in all vehicles, whether compacts, premium sedans, or 40-ton trucks. Bosch is developing computers for cockpit and connectivity functions, for driver assistance systems and automated driving, and for the powertrain and body electronics. This means it will be possible to concentrate control over all central vehicle functions in just a handful of high-performance central computers. Take the information domain computer Bosch is developing. In the next vehicle generation, it will assume the tasks done by as many as ten control units. Some vehicles now feature more than 100 control units in total, and this development will allow automakers to significantly reduce this number. “Vehicle computers are the key to significantly reducing the complexity of electronic systems, and to making them as secure as possible,” Kroeger says. Moreover, installing more central high-performance computers will save on wiring, and thus reduce cost, weight, and installation space.

Bosch vehicle computers will make it possible to master even highly complex driving functions across individual vehicle domains.

Dr. Mathias Pillin, designated president of the new Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division at Bosch

In the vanguard of automotive electronics

In the years ahead, vehicle computers will be entrusted with tasks from different parts of the vehicle – or domains, as the experts call them. When this happens, just one central computer will be responsible for controlling not only vehicle motion, but also body electronics, say. Such central computers will then be all the more powerful: over the past 20 years, the computing power of a control unit originally intended for navigation has grown by a factor of 3,000. This is almost three times the increase predicted by Moore’s law, which states that computing power doubles every two years. The result is that a modern cockpit computer can control not only displays, infotainment, and voice commands, but also the tasks of other domains, such as certain assistance functions. “Bosch vehicle computers will make it possible to master even highly complex driving functions across individual vehicle domains,” says Dr. Mathias Pillin, who will be assuming the position of president of the new Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division from January 2021. The new division’s name is no coincidence. Here, under one roof, Bosch will be pooling its capabilities in software, electrical, and electronic engineering from the domains of driver assistance and automated driving, car multimedia, powertrain, and body electronics.

Modular design offers business potential

Bosch offers its vehicle computers as a scalable kit that contains the right electronic system, including hardware and software, for all requirements and conditions. The ultimate aim is a software and systems architecture for the entire vehicle, in which all central computers, sensors, and control units are perfectly compatible with each other. For automakers, the benefit of such a modular design is that it gives them extra flexibility when developing vehicle computers for different vehicle models. If, for example, a fundamental architecture has been defined for hardware and software, the computer can be designed along those lines, according to customer wishes.

In the case of a premium vehicle, additional functions can be provided by adding extra software modules or special chips to the printed circuit boards. In the case of a compact vehicle, the structure of the vehicle computer can be modified so that it provides central control over basic safety-relevant functions. “Our modular design for vehicle computers and our broad portfolio mean that Bosch can cater to all automakers’ needs,” Pillin says. This design principle also means huge business potential for these high-performance computers, since it will allow Bosch to tap into an enormous market.

Bosch pools its software and electronics expertise in one division with 17,000 associates

Facts about automotive software and electronics

Webspecial e/e archirectures and vehicle computers 


Bosch at CES 2021:

  • VIRTUAL PRESS CONFERENCE: Monday, January 11, 2021, from 8:00 to 8:30 EST (14:00–14:30 CET) with Dr. Michael Bolle, Bosch CTO, CDO, and management board member, and Mike Mansuetti, president of Bosch North America, at the Bosch Media Service.
  • VIRTUAL BOOTH: January 12 – February 15, 2021, at www.ces.tech
  • FOLLOW the Bosch CES 2021 highlights on Twitter: #BoschCES
  • DEEP-DIVE SESSIONS WITH BOSCH-EXPERTS: January 12 – February 15, 2021, at www.ces.tech
    • Sustainable #LikeABosch: How a key global industry player drives carbon neutrality at its sites with Torsten Kallweit, Head of Corporate Office Health, Safety, Environmental and Fire Protection as well as Sustainability and Manager CTO Bosch Climate Solutions GmbH, and Annette Wagner, Head of Sustainability and Ideas Lab
    • Move #LikeABosch: Technology for sustainable future mobility with Mike Mansuetti, President of Bosch North America, and Tim Frasier, Regional President Automotive Electronics North America
    • Artificial intelligence in use: Application examples from the fields of fitness tracking and well-being to smart cameras with Kaustubh Gandhi, Senior Product Manager, and Sina Isabell Springer, Business Development Manager
    • Perfectly keyless advanced with Tim Frasier, Regional President Automotive Electronics North America, Daniel Kornek, Head of Product Area Vehicle Access (Perfectly Keyless), and Jia Hou, Business Development Manager

Mobility is the largest Bosch Group business sector. In 2023, its sales came to 56.2 billion euros, or just under 60 percent of total Group sales. This makes the Bosch Group one of the leading mobility suppliers. Bosch Mobility pursues a vision of mobility that is safe, sustainable, and exciting. For its customers, the outcome is integrated mobility solutions. The business sector’s main areas of activity are electrification, software and services, semiconductors and sensors, vehicle computers, advanced driver assistance systems, systems for vehicle dynamics control, repair-shop concepts, as well as technology and services for the automotive aftermarket. Bosch is synonymous with important automotive innovations, such as electronic engine management, the ESP anti-skid system, and common-rail diesel technology.

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 429,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2023). The company generated sales of 91.6 billion euros in 2023. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. With its business activities, the company aims to use technology to help shape universal trends such as automation, electrification, digitalization, connectivity, and an orientation to sustainability. In this context, Bosch’s broad diversification across regions and industries strengthens its innovativeness and robustness. Bosch uses its proven expertise in sensor technology, software, and services to offer customers cross-domain solutions from a single source. It also applies its expertise in connectivity and artificial intelligence in order to develop and manufacture user-friendly, sustainable products. With technology that is “Invented for life,” Bosch wants to help improve quality of life and conserve natural resources. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 470 subsidiary and regional companies in over 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. Bosch’s innovative strength is key to the company’s further development. At 136 locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 90,000 associates in research and development, of which nearly 48,000 are software engineers.

Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com, www.iot.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com.

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