Studio Guest: Franz Fehrenbach | Made in Germany

Our studio guest this week: Franz Fehrenbach, Bosch Group ChairmanDW-TV: And here is the man who is in charge of all those employees we have just seen in our report, Bosch CEO Franz Fehrenbach. Thank you very much for joining us here in this impressive salon at the Robert Bosch villa. Now I understand that Bosch lived here until his death... until 1942. So what role does his family play in today's business?

Franz Fehrenbach: The family still plays a very important role in the company. They own about seven percent of capital shares. Together with the foundation they have nearly a hundred percent of the shares. And, most importantly, the family and the foundation support us very much in our special constitution. Because due to this special constitution we have a high degree of entrepreneurial freedom and financial independence.DW-TV: It seems to be quite an unusual setup. Robert Bosch was ahead of his time in many ways. He was also the first to introduce the eight-hour working day here in Germany. Would you say this kind of social entrepreneurship is a blessing or a curse for your company?

Franz Fehrenbach: It is a great blessing. Robert Bosch demonstrated how to balance economic issues with social issues. This was always his target, to keep this balance. And the eight-hour working day is an excellent example of this. On the one hand, he found out that in eight hours the performance of his associates is the strongest, and at the same time he could use a two-shift model in his factories, so he also had an economic benefit.DW:TV: The company as a supplier is very much dependent on the wellbeing of car manufacturers. They have been hit hard by the financial crisis. These days the markets are still very volatile. How is Bosch handling this current situation?

Franz Fehrenbach: We see an increase in risks and uncertainties, and we expect economic growth will slow down to some degree in the second half, but we are far away from a recession, and we still expect that we can hit our target mark of fifty-billion-euro sales.DW-TV: How do you plan to move the automotive industry forward?

Franz Fehrenbach: The next challenge will be electromobility. Today we are very much concentrating to further improve the internal-combustion engine -- to improve efficiency by thirty percent. But the real challenge is electromobility. Because this is a new field, we need new solutions. We have to make big steps forward, especially in battery technology. Today, the lithium-ion battery does not have enough capacity. So we need further development there and a lot of effort. We will make sure that you also see in the electrical cars in the future the Bosch trademark as you can see today in internal-combustion vehicles.DW-TV: I was just about to ask: Not many people know that their Mercedes or BMW or whatever is actually running on Bosch technology. That must be frustrating, but you are about to change this. You are an engineer, of course, as well. A lot of engineers come from this region. What would you say is characteristic about engineers? What drives them?

Franz Fehrenbach: First of all, they are all eager to understand the physical principles, the physical laws behind it. And if they have understood them, they have the ambition to make it better, to make it more environmentally friendly and to make it more usable for the customer. This is what they are driven by.DW-TV: Franz Fehrenbach many thanks for joining us.

(Interview: Monica Jones)