The 50-50 joint venture "SB LiMotive Company Ltd." of Bosch and Samsung SDI started its operations on September 1. The objective of the new company is to develop, manufacture and sell lithium-ion batteries for automotive applications. It is planned to start series manufacturing of highly efficient lithium-ion battery systems customized to automotive requirements and to market them worldwide in 2011. To achieve this, the joint venture partners will jointly invest between $300 million and $400 million in the next five years. The new company will be led by Youngwoo Park (Samsung SDI), who will be in charge of finance, production, sales and purchasing, and Dr. Joachim Fetzer (Bosch), who will be responsible for engineering and quality. A few days ago, Bosch and Samsung SDI received the approval from all relevant authorities for the establishment of the joint venture.
SB LiMotive is headquartered in Suwon, South Korea. This will also apply initially to battery cell development. Further, initial production of lithium-ion cells is also planned in Korea. Roughly 100 associates will be located there. In Germany, a subsidiary based in Stuttgart will be established. At first, 40 associates will work there in sales, marketing and system engineering. The location of the manufacturing sites for battery systems will be announced at a later date.
Lithium-ion batteries are the basis for forward-looking technologies in the automobile, such as hybrid or electric drives. Bosch and Samsung expect a market volume of some three million hybrid vehicles by 2015. The prime objective of the joint venture is to optimize lithium-ion battery technology to meet the exacting requirements associated with the automobile – with respect to power density and safety, for example – and in this way to allow purely electrically powered driving over longer distances.
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, some 271,000 associates generated sales of 46.3 billion euros in fiscal 2007. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its more than 300 subsidiaries and regional companies in roughly 50 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. Each year, Bosch spends more than 3 billion euros for research and development, and applies for over 3,000 patents worldwide. The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as "Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering."
The special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees the entrepreneurial freedom of the Bosch Group, making it possible for the company to plan over the long term and to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future. Ninety-two percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The majority of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an industrial trust. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by the trust. The remaining shares are held by the Bosch family and by Robert Bosch GmbH.
Samsung SDI is the Worldwide Name of Digital Display & Energy business. Over the past three decades, Samsung SDI has famed for display specific company and now is reborn as a digital mobile company through successful digital display and next generation energy business. Samsung SDI has been developing digital products of frontier level in the basis of world top display technology in the wide range from color Braun tube to leading flat display, PDP so called innovation of display, LCD and OLED the center of mobile display, and Lithium-ion Battery, the heart of information-technology devices. Also Samsung SDI is striving with endless efforts to build up the image of global company of trust and respect. It has introduced 'Sustainability Management' for the fist time in Korea which is being the topic in the 21st century management.
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