Shanghai (ZXZC)- Bosch, the world-leading auto parts supplier announced on May 23 that its multimedia unit's Wuhu plant in Anhui province was officially opened.

The Wuhu plant, covering an area up to 18.2 thousand square meters and involving investment of RMB 275 million, will focus on providing products such as in-vehicle infotainment system, digital instrument panel, connected control unit, etc. The new plant is expected to have employees up to 900 by the end of 2018, including 160 R&D engineers.

Bosch's multimedia unit stepped into China as early as 2005, and then handed over its first batch of products in the following year. According to relevant data, the company's global sales value reached around RMB 113.4 billion last year, jumping nearly 24% year on year. The R&D expenditure in China totaled RMB 6.4 billion. By the end of 2017, Bosch possessed a total of 23 R&D centers across China and its registered patent number in 2017 jumped 19% compared with a year ago. 

Bosch's car multimedia unit will regard the new Wuhu plant as its main production base in China. Besides, the company’s Suzhou plant is still responsible for the products' manufacturing and marketing and the Wuhu joint venture will keep focusing on producing automobile instrument system and connected control units.

In March this year, Bosch and Banma, China's leading ICV (intelligent-connected vehicle) solution provider, signed a strategic memorandum of understanding to cooperate in automobile multimedia software and hardware and smart mobility solutions. Going forward, Bosch will keep seeking potential partners and developing cutting-edge HMI (human-machine interaction) technologies, like new digital display, voice assistance and haptic feedback system.