Bosch embraces software-focused future

Editor's note: Bosch invested about $500 million in its North American operations last year. An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect figure for that investment.

German automotive supplier Bosch is embracing software as the future of its North American mobility business, the company said during a briefing Thursday.

New software-based automotive features, including wrong-way driving warnings, distracted driving sensing and rental fleet monitoring, were among the technology Bosch displayed at its Software Day.

Bosch is reorganizing its Mobility Solutions unit into Bosch Mobility as part of an overarching effort to prepare for a software-focused future. Paul Thomas, executive vice president of Mobility Solutions, Americas, will lead Bosch Mobility Americas as president starting in January.

"The role of software in mobility is increasing," Mike Mansuetti, president of Bosch in North America, said. "We're restructuring to meet those customer and market needs."

North America is a key market for Bosch, according to Mansuetti. The company invested about $500 million in its North American operations last year, spurred by supportive U.S. industrial policy, including the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Bosch also plans to invest about $1.5 billion in its first North American semiconductor chip plant in Roseville, Calif. It purchased the factory from TSI Semiconductors this year.

The goal is for Bosch Mobility in North America to bring in $20 billion in revenue annually by 2029, growing from contributing about one-fifth of Bosch's total global revenue to about one-quarter.

"We intend to deliver on the opportunities here," Mansuetti said.

Last year, Mobility Solutions brought in $9 billion of Bosch North America's $16 billion in total revenue. Revenue is growing in the region — it increased 12 percent in 2022 over 2021 — and executives hope the restructuring will help to maximize that.

The restructuring will allow Bosch Mobility to realign its operations so it can package both hardware and software solutions from a single point of contact for customers.

"What we're really doing is adapting to the way that our customers want to buy products and software from Bosch," Thomas said. "We try to bring it together for them."

Bosch announced Thursday it is partnering with the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, the City of Detroit, WSP Michigan Inc., MH Corbin, Dera USA and Wayne State University to pilot an intelligent traffic system along Woodward Avenue (M1) in Detroit. The system will use video cameras equipped with on-board artificial intelligence for real-time monitoring and data collection.

Bosch cameras and software will offer pedestrian, bike and vehicle detection and alert authorized vehicles about other road users in their proximity. They could also prioritize signal timing for large vehicles that can cause traffic blockages when they have to stop and start as well as for emergency vehicles. The system also has the potential to be scaled to facilitate adaptive signal timing throughout the corridor.

The project will eventually include about 44 intersections along the M1 corridor.

The $11.5 million project is supported by $5 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and is one of several partnerships with state transportation departments across the country that Bosch has used as proving grounds for its technology.

"As the urbanization of mobility starts to increase, and you see more demand for software-defined mobility, these use cases and test cases become much more important, so I believe in them 100%," Thomas said.

Bosch highlighted these developments at Software Day.

• Interior sensing uses cameras and radar to sense distracted driving and monitor child safety. Driver monitoring may be required in new vehicles in both the European Union and the U.S. by 2027.
• Battery in the cloud provides a digital "twin" of a vehicle's battery that can monitor battery health, predict aging and spot anomalies. Bosch provides the service to automakers, who then determine what information about the battery will be passed on to the owner. Battery in the cloud also provides usage certificates of battery health and residual lifetime expectations based on usage history. These certificates could help guide value assessments on used battery-electric vehicles.
• ETAS, a subsidiary of Bosch, has developed deterministic middleware — AOS — to support automated driving development. Deterministic systems guarantee that software execution will consistently generate the same outputs when given the same inputs. This has the potential to speed up the collection of validation evidence for safety tests as well as debugging processes.
• RideCare companion and RideCare insight are monitoring systems that use cameras and sensors to track what's happening in a vehicle. RideCar companion can be integrated into ride-sharing apps. It allows ride-share drivers to easily call for help, record unusual situations or remotely receive guidance from a Bosch safety officer. RideCare insight can monitor car-share or rental vehicles for improper use, including smoking, damage or dangerous driving.
• Wrong-way driver warning uses geo-fenced areas around highway ramps to trigger monitoring of vehicles' location and direction. The software compares that data with the proper location of the ramp and sends a warning to the vehicle if it is heading the wrong way. It can also warn other connected vehicles in the area.

Bosch is ranked No. 1 on Automotive News' list of the top global auto suppliers, with worldwide sales to automakers of $49.14 billion in 2021.