Altensteig. The Boysen Group, based in Altensteig (Baden-Württemberg), achieved sales of 3.4 billion euros in the 2023 financial year, increasing the previous year's figure by around 100 million euros. The recent growth in the core business of exhaust technology is being fuelled by the acquisition of the second major order for the production of battery cases for electric vehicles, with which CEO Rolf Geisel sees the Group "on a good course" in the course of the technological transformation.
"Since 2020, the crisis scenarios have worsened with each passing year, and the consequences within the automotive industry have been devastating in some cases. Even well-known suppliers are having to close sites and cut jobs en masse. We have increased the number of employees by almost 100 to the current 5,300 and are continuing to grow - also in new business areas in the future," Geisel points out that "the investments of 165 million euros in 2023 represent a new record in our company history of over 100 years." For 2024, the CEO ultimately expects 200 million euros, "which we will invest in our future."
In this context, Geisel mentions four major projects that will increase the number of Boysen locations worldwide to 30:
The new plant in Tianjin was completed last autumn. Series production of commercial vehicle exhaust systems for the customer Daimler Truck began a month ago at what is now Boysen's fourth site in the permanently growing Chinese market.
Currently still under construction is the new plant in Nyíregyháza, Hungary, where from the end of this year Boysen will for the first time not produce exhaust technology, but exclusively battery cases for BMW's "Neue Klasse" e-vehicles. For Geisel, the largest foreign plant to date symbolises "the first decisive milestone on our transformation path."
The Boysen Group is setting the second milestone in Nagold (Baden-Württemberg), where the second pure battery cases plant - in this case for Mercedes-AMG - has been under construction since the end of 2023. Here, too, the first cases are to be manufactured as early as next December. "This order is of great importance to us because, with the new production plant in Nagold, we are also making an important contribution to securing long-term jobs at our local production sites in the district of Calw," says Geisel.
Due to the progress made in the battery business, the plans for the new BAK development centre in Simmersfeld, which will go into operation next April, have been adjusted accordingly. "Instead of concentrating purely on hydrogen technologies in Simmersfeld as originally planned, we will also be bundling and significantly expanding our range of services in the field of battery case development there," explains Geisel, adding: "Within a year, we have become an important player in a completely new market by winning two major orders. This in turn opens up further sales potential for us, for example by upgrading to complete battery systems." The CEO also cites the development of fuel cell applications and redox flow stacks as further focal points in Simmersfeld.
Meanwhile, Rolf Geisel already has his sights firmly set on the next major project: an energy park with five latest-generation wind turbines is also to be built in Simmersfeld, where the company boss expects to generate 70 million kilowatt hours of green electricity per year. The construction of a biogas plant is also planned: "Our focus here is on the separation of carbon dioxide from the raw biogas. On the one hand, this increases the calorific value of the gas and, on the other, we can use the pure CO2 obtained as an essential component for the production of synthetic fuels. We will extract further CO2 directly from the ambient air using direct air capture, thereby making a further contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to this, we are pushing ahead with the development of tank systems for liquid and gaseous hydrogen at our innovation centre in Nagold."
Looking ahead to 2024, Geisel anticipates a decline in turnover for the first time in his almost 40 years as CEO of the Boysen Group: "Due to the massive drop in prices for precious metals such as rhodium and platinum, which we use in our catalysts, Group turnover will probably fall by up to 400 million euros. However, value creation will continue to grow. According to our plans, 2024 and 2025 will be years of expansion with further high investments. From 2026 onwards, we expect further significant growth in view of the ramp-up of the new locations." Geisel's target for recent years remains unchanged: "With outstanding work and further growth in our core business of exhaust technology, we are creating the basis for important investments in new business areas."
Looking back, the Boysen Group achieved its earnings targets in 2023 despite all the challenges in a difficult environment. "This is down to the hard work and dedication of our employees worldwide. In addition to the various crisis scenarios, shaping a complete transformation from within our own financial structure will continue to be the biggest challenge for our group of companies," says Geisel. "However, we believe we are on the right track."
***
The core business of the Boysen Group, headquartered in Altensteig (Baden-Württemberg), is the development and production of high-performance exhaust systems and components for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and off-highway applications. In addition to the three main customers Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the exhaust technology specialist works for the German car manufacturers Volkswagen and Porsche, the British brands Bentley and Rolls-Royce, the commercial vehicle manufacturers Daimler Truck and MAN as well as in the field of off-highway applications for Krauss Maffei, mtu, Voith and others.
The Boysen Group has been driving forward its technological transformation since 2016. With new product groups such as battery cases, hydrogen refuelling systems, control elements and electronic components, the next chapter in the company's 100-year history is being written. Further building blocks of the future strategy are the production of energy storage systems (redox flow battery systems) and fuel cells as well as basic and product development in the field of hydrogen technology.
The Boysen Group is a foundation company and currently employs around 5,300 people at 28 locations in Germany and abroad. In addition to the development sites in Altensteig, Nagold and Simmersfeld, Boysen has production sites in Altensteig, Simmersfeld, Heubach, Salching, Ingolstadt, Plauen and Achim as well as in France, Egypt, South Africa, India, China, Mexico, Serbia, Romania and the USA.
***
For further questions please contact:
Christian Grimm
Marketing Team Leader
BIN Boysen Innovationszentrum Nagold GmbH & Co. KG
Carl-Friedrich-Gauss-Str. 4
72202 Nagold
Tel. 07452/8408-200
Fax 07452/8408-8200
E-mail christian.grimm(at)bin.boysen-online.de
For publication free – proof requested
