FRANKFURT, Germany — Bosch believes it will have to cut jobs in response to stagnating business in Europe, the group's chief executive said Friday.
"We won't be able to avoid cutting jobs in some areas," CEO Volkmar Denner told Manager Magazin, a weekly magazine.
"If our analysis is correct, the markets in Europe are going to stagnate for a number of years," he said. But Bosch had to be prepared "for business to be even a little worse."
Denner said Bosch expected to have to increase the productivity of its plants 3% to 5% annually but that sales would not rise as fast due to the sluggishness of the European economy.
Last year, Bosch achieved an operating margin of just 2%, much lower than rivals Continental and Schaeffler.
The group's long-term target is 8%.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013
