Why Your Next Car Repair Could Take Weeks Longer Than Usual
Why Bosch’s slump hits your repair bill
Bosch is flashing a yellow light. If you rely on a daily driver or a high-mileage truck, expect parts pricing and repair wait times to get less friendly. Do one thing now: handle the boring maintenance before small problems turn into expensive, slow-to-fix failures.
On January 15, 2026, a Reuters report on an internal memo said Bosch CEO Stefan Hartung told employees the company will miss its 2025 sales target. The memo (as reported by Manager Magazin) pointed to preliminary 2025 sales of about €91 billion, only slightly above 2024, and said the increase was boosted by Bosch’s €7.4 billion acquisition of Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning. Adjust for that deal, and revenue fell. The memo also said the 2025 profit margin is “significantly below 2% of revenue,” with full-year results due January 30.
That’s corporate talk, but here’s the street-level translation: Bosch is one of the world’s biggest auto suppliers. Bosch hardware and electronics show up in the systems you count on—brakes, sensors, engine management, starters, alternators, and a long list of parts you never think about until your car suddenly won’t start or throws a warning light.
When margins get that thin, companies don’t shrug. They cut costs. They delay projects. They squeeze purchasing. They reduce headcount. On January 8, 2026, Reuters summarized Hartung’s interview with Die Zeit where he warned of a 2025 earnings slump and said Bosch plans around 22,000 job cuts, with tariffs and restructuring costs weighing into 2026. Fewer people and tighter budgets don’t automatically mean “no parts,” but they can mean less cushion in the system—exactly what turns a simple repair into a week of waiting.
The contrast is real. Bosch’s own numbers for 2024 show €90.3 billion in sales and a 3.5% EBIT margin from operations in its 2024 annual report (PDF). A drop from that world into “below 2%” is the kind of squeeze that shows up downstream.
So what do you do with this? Don’t panic-buy parts. Do play offense. If your battery is older, have it tested before it strands you. If your brakes, tires, or charging system are due, schedule the work early—especially before road-trip season. When you book service, ask one blunt question: “Are any parts for this job backordered?” If the answer is yes, you just learned why proactive maintenance beats reactive repairs.
My Verdict
Bosch’s warning doesn’t mean your next repair is doomed. It means the smart play is timing. Handle maintenance early, ask shops about parts lead times, and don’t let a small issue become a long wait plus a bigger bill.