Specialist in tire service technology, wheel alignment, and brake lathes

• Accu Industries: roughly 16 million U.S. dollars sales, 45 associates
• Addition to the Diagnostics business unit of the Bosch Automotive Aftermarket division
• Broader distribution base strengthens workshop equipment business in North America

The Bosch Group is acquiring the operating assets of Accu Industries Inc. in Ashland, Virginia, USA. An agreement to this effect was signed on March 12, 2008. It has been agreed that the purchase price will not be disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close before the end of April, 2008.

Accu Industries employs 45 associates and generated sales of roughly 16 million U.S. dollars (approximately 11.7 million euros) in 2007. The company sells tire changers, wheel balancers, and wheel alignment equipment. With the acquisition, Bosch is strengthening its Automotive Aftermarket division, and further expanding the workshop equipment business of its Diagnostics business unit. "Above all, we want to improve the distribution and service offered by our Bosch Diagnostics business unit in North America. In this market, Accu Industries is well established in the aftersales segment, and is therefore a logical extension to the business we already have in the U.S.," says Hans-Peter Meyen, member of the executive management of the Automotive Aftermarket division.

Accu Industries will become an integral part of the existing Bosch Diagnostics business in the United States. The President of Accu Industries will remain with the company in a senior management position.

In the future, Accu Industries is to assume responsibility for wheel and tire service in the U.S., in the area of both sales and technical support. Even today, the company works together with more than 70 sales representatives and 200 authorized service centers in the area of workshop equipment. The assembly activities of Accu Industries will also be an addition to the global production network of Bosch Diagnostics.

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 272,000 associates generated sales of 46.1 billion euros in fiscal 2007. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 300 subsidiary and regional companies in over 50 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. Bosch spends more than three billion euros each year for research and development, and in 2006 applied 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.

Courtesy of  Rextroth Bosch