Bosch, the world's largest supplier of automotive components, has made public the appointment of Dr. Steffen Berns as its new President, India arm of Bosch Group and Managing Director (MD) of Bosch Limited. The announcement came on December 7, 2012, after the Board Meeting of Bosch Limited concluded in Goa. From now on, Dr. Berns will also be prime authority for all operations of Bosch Group conducted on Indian turf. Further, it has been revealed that Dr. Berns will be taking over command from the hands of V. K. Viswanathan, from January 1, 2012. Viswanathan has served as a Head of all operations of Bosch India, since the last five years.
Dr. Steffen Berns procured his honorary Doctorate under the discipline of Mechanical Engineering and in 1990 started working with Bosch Group in Stuttgart, Germany. He has a vast technical knowledge and managerial experience on automotive components along with an extensive international exposure. Dr. Berns has worked in the Indian arm of Bosch Group between 1996 and 1999, and took care of Original Equipment (OE) Sales and Research and Development (R&D) division. He later worked as Managing Director (MD) of Robert Bosch Engineering Business Solutions.
Since 2006, Dr. Berns has been a member of the Board of Bosch Gasoline Systems Division at the company's Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. Before his new responsibility, Dr. Berns also served as Head of electronics business of the Diesel Division.
Expressing views on his new role, Dr. Berns, said “Bosch in India has an excellent track record with its strong growth, good customer relationships, local development, strong talent base and manufacturing capabilities. We will continue and extend the journey further by strengthening local innovations and will additionally focus more on opportunities in the non-automotive business fields, e.g. power tools, security technology, thermo technology and capital goods.”
Speaking his mind about the appointment of Dr. Berns as new President and MD of Bosch India, V. K. Viswanathan, said, “Steffen brings with him a wide range of experience and expertise in several automotive domains. His prudent insight garnered from his various technical and senior management roles will augur well for Bosch in India. I firmly believe that Bosch in India would continue to grow under his leadership and I would like to extend my best wishes to him on his new role.”
