The global business climate in the capital goods and mechanical engineering sectors worsened at the end of 2008. However, our Industrial Technology business sector was still able to benefit from the high level of orders on hand. Sales grew by 13 percent to a total of 6.7 billion euros. Part of this growth is due to the partial consolidation of our new acquisition ersol Solar Energy AG, Erfurt. This company, in which we acquired the majority holding, now forms our new Solar Energy division.

Our subsidiary Bosch Rexroth AG made the largest contribution to this growth. It supplies all major technologies for drive and control applications – from hydraulics to electrics, mechanics, and pneumatics. Bosch Rexroth recorded strong growth in Asia and Europe, particularly in mobile hydraulics, which includes components for off-road vehicles such as agricultural and construction machinery, and gearboxes for harnessing wind energy.

We improved our position in the fragmented global market for packaging technology.