Bosch challenges established carmakers with new e-vehicle chassis

German multinational engineering company and automotive equipment supplier Bosch is targeting the established car industry with its own modular e-vehicle platform, write Martin-Werner Buchenau and Markus Fasse in the business daily Handelsblatt. Bosch has teamed up with auto technology company Benteler and Italian car design firm Pininfarina to produce a so-called ‘skateboard’ for electric vehicles – a chassis that can be used for different models and different brands. “The end result is a cosmos of suppliers, developers and brands beyond the traditional car companies,” write the authors. In March, Benteler and Bosch had announced the cooperation with Pininfarina and said that the three “can cover the entire development process for an electric vehicle, all the way to the start of production, including the building of prototypes.” Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner said: “We will not compete with our customers, but remain a supplier,” writes Handelsblatt. The company trio is offering its product mainly to newcomers in mobility, such as start-ups or mobility service providers that do not manufacture their own cars.

Carmakers are adapting to a new market in times of a shift to e-mobility. Europe's largest carmaker Volkswagen has developed its own platform – the Modular Electrification Toolkit (MEB) – as the key building block for dozens of different electric models it plans to launch by 2025.