In spite of this strong market, Bosch estimates its worldwide sales are expected to drop by about 15 percent to some 38 billion euros due to the global economic woes.

Speaking at a press conference held in Beijing last week to celebrate Bosch's 100 years in China, Franz Fehrenbach, chairman of the Bosch board of management, said globally it could take Bosch until 2012 to return to pre-recession sales levels.

In Asian markets and China, Bosch envisages technologies that improve safety, increase comfort, conserve resources, and protect the environment will be "in particularly strong demand."

In response already existing local demand, Bosch now produces both the ABS antilock braking system and the ESP electronic stability program in China, the company said in a statement.

Bosch said its Suzhou plant produced a record high of one million ABS antilock braking systems in the first nine months of this year. It also expects the ESP installation rate in China to rise from 7 percent today to 22 percent by 2014. 

The European supplier is also building up its powertrain electrification capacity in China. By the end of 2009, some 35 engineers will be working on powertrain electrification projects at United Automotive Electronic Systems Co., its joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. The number will further increase to about 100 in the near future, the company said.

At the press conference, Fehrenbach said despite the transition to electric cars, the internal combustion engine will remain the technology of choice in global markets for the next twenty years. He also said Bosch can cut vehicle fuel consumption by an additional 30 percent through use of its technologies such as improved fuel injection and start-stop systems as well as high-efficiency alternators.

Bosch invested some 290 million euros (3 billion yuan) in 2008. So far this year, some 160 million euros (1.5 billion yuan) have been invested in China, with an emphasis on future-oriented technologies in renewable energies and powertrain electrification, the company said in the statement.

Bosch opened its first office in China in 1909. It currently has a workforce here of 20,000 staff, the largest outside of Bosch in Germany.