Dr. Uwe Thomas, chairman of the Automotive Aftermarket Divisional Board at Robert Bosch GmbH, and Sheikh Khaled Bin Ahmed Al Juffali managing partner and vice chairman at E.A. Juffali & Brothers Co., stressed on the growing partnership between the two companies especially with the expected changes in the transport sector. "Especially connected mobility will change the Automotive Aftermarket, which is the Bosch division I am leading. For us, connected mobility is the future' Dr. Uwe said during his presentation at a roundtable discussion tonight to discuss the Future of Mobility and the Development of the Automotive Aftermarket in Saudi Arabia here at the Intercontinental hotel. "The Internet of Things and the increasing digitalization have impacted and changed the way we live permanently. Today, we use our phones for a variety of things without even thinking about it, it has become normal," he added. The roundtable was held to mark Bosch's longstanding presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and 50 years of partnership with Juffali Auto Parts Co. (Japco), Bosch, a leading global supplier of technology and services, and the future trends. Dr. Uwe Thomas, Sheikh Khaled, and Andreas Bodemer, vice president of Middle East and Africa region at Bosch Automotive Aftermarket, were at the discussion. Sheikh Khaled in his introduction speech welcomed Dr. Uwe and his colleagues to the Kingdom and thanked him for his informative presentation. He said "Bosch is a huge company on its own with 70 billion euro sales and 375,000 employees working worldwide. Saudi Arabia is the largest market in the Middle East and we are looking to expand our cooperation in workshops and outlets. "On the other hand we are following Vision 2030 which has been announced by the government, and we are looking at localizing much more here in the Kingdom specifically by training Saudis and Saudi students, which we have been doing for 40 years or so. And basically the capacity of the student-training center on Makkah Road will take in about 800 students. We are starting small and hope to enroll more." During the discussion, the hosts were asked whether new and additional skill sets would be needed with connectivity being the way of future, and how the two would steer the partnership, to which Sheikh Khaled replied, "Basically what we are looking at and depending on is Bosch's knowledge and entrepreneurial skills to assist in training. This is the real cooperation between us, in other words is transfer of technology. And Bosch is of course one of the highest skilled companies in the world in electronic science or mechanical science." This was complemented by Dr. Uwe, who said "we have training schools all over the world. As you know it is not only about skills and traditional techniques, which we have been offering, training for many years. But our training center in Germany is introducing new training for the new concepts. Here all the new techniques and activity is being introduced, and when we talk about the future the modern mechanic will not have grease on his hands as it is becoming more and more a software business, where he will be more IT savvy. This opens up space and opportunities for young people. We have to show the public of the new kind of future mobility by introducing to them these concepts, and we would cooperate with Juffali in this regard." While discussing the future of automotive, electric cars, Dr. Uwe was questioned that in the next 20 years there will be a big change ushering a new generation of companies, and will Bosch be one of them, he said "yes, new car and carmakers are coming up in US, and elsewhere. What we see is electrified cars has offered opportunities for us in research and development, for electrified cars will make up 15% of the cars by 2025. Besides electrification, we sell 15 million sensors. Sensors are the future, and they are already there in smartphones called the micro-mechanical sensors. If it slips out of my hand and falls down, the sensor will realize the change in pressure and save the data before it makes impact on the floor and breaks. This just shows you, how important sensors are going to be." On relations with the Juffali Group and what's Bosch's contribution to the Saudi market, Andreas Bodemer said "of course we have a long-term relationship with Juffali group, and this is the 51st year of our relationship. We have been working together for 50 years and it is a very fruitful relationship for both all these years. "We are active in the commercial vehicle segment as well as in the European segment and more and more in the Asian segment. We are very strong in the European markets, and with Juffali we have big expansion plans. Currently we have 13 outlets all over the country. That we will expand to 23 outlets, every year we will build two outlets. That will bring in more customers — wholesale and retailer. That'll also boost the partnership between Juffali and ourselves, and we'll enhance the partnership by the end of this year. Bosch will be bringing in our team to train and support Japco workers." In his presentation prior to the roundtable, Dr. Uwe mentioned that the Middle East continues to be a key market for Bosch, although the current geopolitical situation has a challenging impact on the economic development. "We are confident, however, that the momentum created by mega-events like the Jeddah Metro, Dubai Expo 2020, and the World Cup in Qatar 2022 will contribute to positive business development and a continued demand for our products and services. The Saudi Vision 2030 will also promote continued positive developments," he said. He also revealed three megatrends that are ringing in this new era. They will shape and change mobility permanently: Increases in efficiency of combustion engines and electric powertrains; Highly automated driving, respectively autonomous driving; and – closely linked to the other two – connected driving. "Certainly, the drive to the workshop will still be necessary in the future — either for maintenance or repair and Bosch is focusing to turn this into a transparent and enjoyable experience through connecting the equipment and workshop processes we are enabling users to monitor the repair process of their vehicles choosing optional activities, and upgrading their service level," Dr. Uwe said in his presentation. Bosch's workshop connected experience in the workshop enables plug and play solutions for vehicle manufacturers, repair workshops and vehicle owners. This software suite and integrated backend maximized efficiency and transparency in the complete repair process and it is currently deployed in many workshops globally, is expected to triple in the next 3-5 years. "Bosch has a strong growth plans in the Kingdom, as it is looking to have 46 Bosch Car Service by 2020 while maintaining quality service, reasonable price original equipment specification products, and standardized look & feel in service offerings across Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," he said.
