BSH Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH) achieved its highest-ever turnover in the 55 years of its existence for the second consecutive year. In the 2021 fiscal year, BSH generated turnover of €15.6 billion, or a year-over-year increase of over 12%.

News of the record results have come at the same time as an announcement by group CEO and Chairwoman, Carla Kriwet, that she would be leaving the company for personal reasons. Her departure on April 30, 2022, was, she said, in order to continue her professional career outside the Bosch Group.

BSH grew its turnover sharply in all regions in the 2021 fiscal year. The manufacturer benefited from global demand for high-quality home appliances, its strong global brand portfolio, and innovative digital services for consumers.

BSH remains the undisputed market leader in the Europe region, growing its turnover by 9% last year. In particular, it recorded good growth in the major Western European markets, such as Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy, as well as Northern Europe and Turkey.

BSH increased its turnover in the Americas (USA and Canada) by a strong 23%.

BSH posted an 18% year-over-year increase in turnover for the Asia-Pacific/Africa region as a whole. BSH was able to grow its turnover by 17% year-over-year in the Chinese market, the largest in the region. BSH remains the leading non-Chinese home appliance manufacturer in China.

The strongest turnover driver in the 2021 fiscal year was the Refrigeration product category, which posted a year-over-year growth of 20%, followed by the product category Cooking (ovens +14%, cooktops and ventilation +13%). Turnover in Laundry Care grew by 9%. Dish Care grew its turnover by 7%. Small appliances (consumer products), such as automatic coffee machines, food processors and vacuum cleaners, also performed positively, growing by 9%.

BSH’s Customer Service, which has won multiple awards, likewise increased its turnover by 4% year-over-year. The approximately 15,000 BSH customer service staff and their service partners continued supporting consumers in some 50 countries without interruption in the second year of the coronavirus pandemic.

growing its local development centres in China, Egypt and Mexico, and with its expanded and new production facilities in those regions, BSH is underscoring its aim to place a stronger focus on addressing the specific needs of consumers in different markets. At the same time, regional production reduces transport routes and supply chains, thus making a major contribution to decreasing CO2 emissions.

Research and development spending in 2021 rose by €47m to €755m, or 5% of the total turnover. The focus moving forward will remain on consumer-centric innovations, IoT solutions, digitalisation of the entire value chain, and establishing a functioning circular economy.
BSH’s development and production operations at all its locations worldwide have been carbon-neutral since 2020. Since September 2021, BSH has procured green steel from Salzgitter AG with a 66% lower carbon footprint to manufacture washing machines at its Polish plant in Łódź. In addition, BSH also aims for all of its locations to be completely supplied with green electricity by 2030.

BSH increasingly uses recycled materials to produce new appliances – its target is for the home appliances it makes to contain a minimum of 25% recycled materials by 2025. That percentage is to be at least doubled to 50% by 2030. At the same time, BSH set the goal of increasing the proportion of recyclable materials contained in its appliances to at least 80% by 2025 and at least 95% by 2030.

BSH continues to invest in new business models, such as the “Refurbished” pilot project recently launched in Austria. For the first time, professionally refurbished Bosch washing machines are offered for sale along with a manufacturer’s warranty. In addition, consumers have been able to lease home appliances in Germany and the Netherlands under the subscription model of BlueMovement since 2021. The sharing model WeWash was launched in 2016 and offers residents in large condominiums in Germany and Austria the option of booking a washing machine by app and cashless payment for each washing cycle.