Bosch Reports €91 Billion in Sales for 2025, Profits Under Pressure

Robert Bosch GmbH reported total sales revenue of €91.0 billion for the 2025 financial year, up slightly from €90.3 billion in 2024. While nominal growth was just 0.7 percent, the figure rises to 4.1 percent after adjusting for currency effects. The results were announced on April 16, 2026, at the company's annual press conference in Stuttgart.

Profitability, however, declined. EBIT margin from operations fell to 2percent from 3.5 percent the previous year. The main reason was €2.7 billion in provisions set aside for structural restructuring and job cuts, primarily in the Mobility division and at German locations. Free cash flow also dropped significantly, from approximately €900 million in 2024 to around €300 million in 2025. The equity ratio stood at 41.6 percent, and year-end liquidity was €7.4 billion.

Bosch reduced its global workforce by approximately 5,000 people during 2025, bringing total headcount to 412,774 by year-end. The cuts were concentrated in the Mobility sector and in Germany. The company completed negotiations with employee representatives at all affected sites and says it will now implement the agreed changes. Management cited intensifying price competition from Chinese automotive manufacturers as a key driver of the need to reduce costs.

Performance by Business Sector

The Mobility sector, Bosch's largest, generated €55.8 billion in sales — flat year-on-year in nominal terms but up 2.9 percent on a currency-adjusted basis. Its operating margin fell sharply to 1.8 percent from 3.8 percent, reflecting the restructuring provisions and pricing pressure in the automotive industry.

Industrial Technology grew marginally to €6.5 billion in sales, with currency-adjusted growth of 2.4 percent. Its EBIT margin improved to 3.5 percent from 1.2 percent, making it the strongest performer on profitability among the four divisions.

Consumer Goods posted sales of €19.9 billion, a nominal decline of 1.9 percent, though currency-adjusted growth was 4.1 percent. The division was affected by weak demand from the construction sector in China and the United States. The operating margin was 3.0 percent, down from 3.5 percent in 2024.

Energy and Building Technology was the fastest-growing division, with sales rising 13.0 percent nominally — and 15.6 percent after currency adjustments — to €8.5 billion. Despite the strong top-line growth, the operating margin fell to just 0.5 percent from 4.9 percent, largely due to one-off costs related to acquisitions and asset sales during the year.

Europe remained Bosch's largest market at €44.2 billion in sales, though this represented a slight nominal decline of 0.6 percent. On a currency-adjusted basis, the region grew 1.5 percent. Germany specifically grew 1.6 percent to €17.8 billion.

The Americas grew 3.8 percent nominally to €18.5 billion, or 9.3 percent after adjusting for currency. Asia Pacific grew 0.7 percent nominally to €28.3 billion, with currency-adjusted growth of 5.0 percent.

Research & Development

Bosch spent €7.9 billion on research and development in 2025, equivalent to 8.7 percent of sales. Combined with capital expenditure of €4.1 billion, total investment in R&D and fixed assets reached approximately €12 billion for the year. The company filed around 6,300 patents in 2025 and remained the top patent filer in Germany.

Key areas of investment include sensor technology, automotive software, and electrification. Bosch has developed a new sensor platform — the BMI5 — aimed at improving navigation for robots in complex environments. The company also sees growing demand for inertial sensors in automated vehicles, which can maintain accurate positioning even when GPS or camera signals are unavailable. Analysts project the automotive intelligent sensor market will roughly double to over $80 billion by the mid-2030s.

In automotive software, Bosch is developing AI-based systems for in-vehicle personalisation. It secured €10 billion in orders for driver assistance systems, sensor solutions, and vehicle computers in 2025. The company expects to deliver over 7 million electric powertrain components in 2026 and recently announced a joint venture with India's Tata AutoComp Systems to manufacture electric axles and motors for the Indian market.

In consumer products, the BSH Hausgeräte division launched an AI-enabled oven with a built-in voice assistant. The Power Tools division introduced 30 new professional tools with AI features at the start of 2026, including a wall scanner that uses radar combined with AI object detection.

Outlook for 2026

Bosch expects the global economic environment to remain challenging in 2026, with continued uncertainty from geopolitical developments and persistent pricing pressure. For the full year, the company is targeting sales growth of 2–5 percent, an EBIT margin from operations of 4–6 percent, and positive free cash flow.

In the first quarter of 2026, revenues were broadly flat nominally but approximately 5 percent higher after currency adjustments, which management said is consistent with the annual guidance range.

As an additional measure to improve financial flexibility, Bosch will publish interim consolidated financial statements for the first half of 2026 for the first time, allowing it to access bond markets and other capital market instruments more flexibly during the year.