Bosch Appears at IAA Hanover, Sets Goal to Double Heavy-Duty Commercial Vehicle Business Sales by 2035

Stuttgart and Hanover, Germany--The commercial vehicle industry is ushering in unprecedented development opportunities while also facing numerous challenges. As global trade continues to grow, transport demand keeps rising; at the same time, increasingly strict regulatory requirements and a worsening driver shortage continue to put pressure on the industry and drive up the total cost of ownership of vehicles over their life cycle.

Facing these challenges, Bosch is opening up new economic benefit potential for the commercial vehicle industry through more innovative technologies. "The heavy-duty commercial vehicle business is an important growth area for Bosch. Our goal is to double sales in this field around 2035." said Dr. Markus Heyn, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Management of Bosch Group and Chairman of Bosch Mobility, at the 2026 German Hanover International Transportation Exhibition (IAA Mobility).

The steadily growing commercial vehicle market also provides strong support for Bosch's business growth. Although global vehicle production is expected to trend downward overall in 2026, the heavy-duty commercial vehicle market (vehicles over 6 tons) is showing greater resilience--based on strong growth momentum in the first half, Bosch expects global production in this market to grow by about 1% this year to around 3.3 million units; by around 2035, it is expected to climb further to 4 million units.

Based on this market forecast and the market adoption of related technologies, Bosch believes that its heavy-duty commercial vehicle technology business has considerable growth potential: by 2035, its sales are expected to double from the current scale of more than 4 billion euros. At the same time, assuming solid fourth-quarter performance, despite many current challenges and a severe market environment, Bosch Mobility expects to maintain its 2026 revenue level.

2026 German Hanover International Transportation Exhibition

Dr. Markus Heyn said: "We are fully leveraging our advantages as a global systems supplier to accelerate the transformation toward diversified powertrains and new vehicle architectures." Bosch's product and technology portfolio covers hardware, software, artificial intelligence, and cloud-based services, helping improve the safety and cost-effectiveness of commercial vehicle operations.

Bosch continues to advance the "software-defined vehicle".

Powertrains and technologies for global markets.

A broadly deployed, diversified powertrain technology portfolio remains an important pillar of Bosch's growth strategy. Bosch is further strengthening its market position in pure electric mobility. In 2026, one out of every three newly registered battery-electric trucks in Europe will be equipped with Bosch motors and inverters. A major new order from long-term partner Daimler Truck further confirms this market performance. Under the agreement, Bosch will supply electric drive powertrain-related components produced in Europe for Daimler Truck's eActros battery-electric trucks.

Bosch's all-new heavy-duty electric drive axle integrates core components of the electric drive assembly, such as the motor and transmission, into an integrated solution, suitable for commercial vehicles with a gross vehicle weight 18 to 49 tons.

Similar to the passenger car market, the pace of transformation in the commercial vehicle market also varies by region. Electrification is developing rapidly, with adoption especially fast in the Chinese market. Bosch expects that by 2030, about one quarter of newly registered heavy-duty trucks worldwide will use climate-friendly powertrain technologies such as batteries or fuel cells; by 2035, this proportion will rise further to about half. In contrast, in the North American market, conventional diesel engines still dominate, with some models adopting hybrid technology on that basis. Dr. Markus Heyn said: "To achieve climate goals in global transportation, there is not just a single either-or path; we need to make full use of diversified technologies to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Battery technology is also gradually becoming the mainstream technology route in the commercial vehicle sector, but for heavy-duty long-haul transportation and different global markets, hydrogen and alternative fuels will still play an important complementary role." Therefore, Bosch consistently adheres to a technology diversification strategy. In addition to fuel cell power modules, the company also supplies key components for hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines. At the same time, Bosch plans to systematically consolidate its leading position in diesel engines and continue to optimize conventional injection systems to help vehicle manufacturers meet the latest emission standards such as Euro 7. For global fleets, renewable synthetic fuels can also help accelerate the achievement of climate goals.

High-tech manufacturing in electric mobility: a robotic arm positions the motor stator for the joining process. This fully automated system ensures the high quality of drivetrain components

Intelligent sensors that meet new safety requirements.

The transformation of the commercial vehicle industry is not limited to powertrain technology. In recent years, to further improve road traffic safety, the EU has successively made more and more driver assistance functions mandatory, and the latest regulations took effect in July 2026. Under the new rules, emergency braking assistance systems must be able to recognize pedestrians and cyclists; driver monitoring systems, in addition to monitoring fatigue driving, also need to identify situations such as driver distraction. Bosch can provide the sensors and related functions required to meet these requirements. In 2027, Bosch will launch a new generation of multi-function cameras and radar sensors. With the latest artificial intelligence technology and greatly increased computing power, both sensors can accurately recognize people and vehicles. In 2026, a Bosch digital rearview mirror with an integrated camera has entered series production with two well-known European vehicle manufacturers. The product can analyze driver behavior and issue a warning when it detects driver inattention. In major markets such as India and China, vehicle safety standards are also continuously rising. In India, for example, new regulatory requirements are driving continued growth in demand for advanced driver assistance systems, including functions such as automatic emergency braking and blind spot monitoring.

Sensor data fusion implemented directly in the camera

With a comprehensive system and sensor portfolio, Bosch can help commercial vehicles establish complete surround perception capabilities, further improving driving safety and convenience. With intelligent software algorithms, data collected by different sensors on the vehicle can be fused and analyzed in real time. In addition, camera and radar systems can also support higher levels of automated driving functions. "Our goal is to achieve L4 automated driving, partly to address the increasingly serious driver shortage in the logistics industry." said Dr. Markus Heyn when discussing the automated driving technology route. "Software can take on increasingly complex driving tasks, thereby reducing the burden on logistics systems.".

Moving toward software-defined commercial vehicles.

Modern commercial vehicles need to collect and process an ever-increasing amount of data. As powertrain, driver assistance, and automated driving functions become increasingly rich, the complexity of vehicle electrical/electronic systems has also risen significantly. At the same time, increasingly fierce industry competition is further driving system integration. By integrating different components into complete system solutions, it is possible not only to reduce system complexity but also to help further reduce costs. For example, functions that used to be independent in commercial vehicles are now gradually being integrated into central computing platforms for different domains such as the cockpit and the vehicle. At the same time, the deep decoupling of software and hardware provides the necessary foundation for rapidly deploying new functions across vehicle models throughout their life cycle through OTA software updates. To this end, Bosch and its subsidiary ETAS are developing corresponding centralized electrical/electronic architectures, including high-performance, scalable onboard computing platforms and accompanying software platforms. Dr. Markus Heyn said: "Software-defined commercial vehicles are gradually becoming a reality." With deep expertise in both hardware and software, Bosch can fully leverage its system-level expertise to create greater value for customers. In the commercial vehicle sector, software-defined mobility directly targets the industry's most critical core metric--total cost of ownership. For fleet operators, it will significantly reduce the complexity of daily operations.

Bosch engineers are programming the fully automated joining process for electric drive components