OREANDA-NEWS. August 29, 2014. Bosch Power Tools has performed well with its Lawn and Garden business unit despite a stagnating market. Lawn and Garden sales increased over the past year by one percent to 253 million euros.

This figure was affected by exchange rate effects in emerging countries such as Russia and India. In local currencies – i.e. after adjusting for currency effects – growth was three percent. “The key factors for this success are our innovative strength and our battery technology know-how. We generated about 35 percent of our sales in 2013 with products which have been on the market for under two years”, explained Henning von Boxberg, president of Bosch Power Tools.

Battery-powered garden tools continue to prevail on the market – now accounting for 35 percent of total sales at Bosch Power Tools. The division expects considerably higher growth overall this year.

Bosch further strengthens top position in Europe

The company outperformed the market in Europe, where Bosch sells about 90 percent of its products and has been market leader since 2009. In 2013, all manufacturers together sold 11.1 million garden tools in homecenters, discount stores, and through online marketplaces – that is two percent less than in the previous year. The market stagnated in value. Bosch Power Tools managed to increase sales by five percent despite this difficult environment. “Especially in Europe, which is an important region for us, we have convinced the market with our innovative products and managed to further strengthen our leading position as a result”, explained von Boxberg. Nine of the ten best-selling electric garden tools in European homecenters are made by Bosch.

Indego robotic mower can now also be operated using an app

All in all, Bosch has launched more than 100 new garden tools onto the market in the past five years. These included both enhancements to established segments, such as lawnmowers and shrub shears, as well as products such as the Indego robotic mower with “LogiCut” navigation system. The Indego mows systematically in lanes thanks to its intelligent software and sensor technology. As a result, it is 30 percent faster than a conventional robotic mower which cuts in a random pattern.

An enhancement to this successful innovation is now being launched onto the market: the Indego 1200 Connect. This new mower combines the tried-and-tested “LogiCut” navigation system with easy operation using a smartphone app. The result is that you can conveniently control your networked robotic mower from anywhere and at any time using a smartphone. “Controlling the tool with an app is what we imply by “Smart Gardening”. This will make gardening even more convenient in future”, emphasized von Boxberg.

New to the product range: Cordless solutions for professionals

Bosch has been instrumental in shaping the market for powerful tools which run on lithium-ion batteries and has now also enhanced them for professional garden care. Above all, professional users expect their tools to have high performance, long runtime, to be weather-resistant, and to be robust and easy to start. In addition to this, health aspects in day-to-day use are also important. For this reason, the expectations of professional users with regard to convenience, low noise levels, low vibration and low emissions are especially high. In 2013, the Bosch relevant market for professional garden care, which are the product segments walk-behind lawnmowers, brushcutters, chainsaws, hedgecutters and garden blower/vacuums, had an estimated overall value in Europe of about 2.6 billion euros and was dominated to the tune of 93 percent by gasoline-powered tools.

From spring 2015, Bosch Power Tools will offer a 36 volt, 6.0 ampere hour system, which will be used in four professional tools at first – two lawnmowers and two brushcutters. These cordless products are an alternative to gasoline-powered professional tools in terms of performance, and they reduce noise exposure for the user by at least half.

With its new solutions for private users and the entry into the professional garden tool market, Bosch Power Tools is in a position to ensure that it continues to grow in future and that it strengthens its position on the European market.