This year, Robert Bosch Kft. once again commissioned the Medián Opinion and Market Research Institute to survey cars, car use and car-repair habits in Hungary. Since data of this kind is largely unavailable elsewhere, the research fills a gap. What makes the survey even more valuable is that it has been carried out every two years since 2008, so that it has been keeping track of trends in cars and car-repair habits in Hungary since the start of the economic and financial crisis. The 2014 data was collected from 924 car-using households. The sample was representative by sex, age, level of education and geographical area of the over-18 car-owning population.
The survey asked Hungarian car-owners where they took their cars for repair: small, brand-independent garages were the choice of 68 per cent of them. Ten per cent took them to brand dealers under guarantee, and a further twelve per to dealers outside the guarantee period.
The rate of brand-independent garage use in Budapest is well below the national average: only 54 per cent of owners living in the city took their cars to be repaired in non-dealer garages. One fifth owned cars under guarantee and took them to the brand dealer, and a further 13 per cent were still taking them to the dealer outside the guarantee period. Both of these figures were above the national average. People in villages were much more likely to go to small garages: 71 per cent of them did so, and the figure is similar for those in towns excluding Budapest. In line with the results from past years, the Bosch-Medián survey found expertise to be the prime consideration for Hungarians choosing a repair garage. The expected costs came in second place and were less important than in 2012. Trustworthiness is also important to Hungarian motorists: this criterion came third.
More than 70 per cent of Hungarians took their cars to the garage for the official inspection, a higher proportion than in 2010. The second commonest reason, mentioned by nearly 70 per cent of respondents, is for a brake test. Of the twelve garage networks asked about in the 2014 survey, Bosch Car Service is the best known, as it has been for many years.
The Bosch Car Service network
The Bosch Car Service is a brand-independent network of over 14,000 partner garages, tracing its beginnings to 1921, when the founder of the company, Robert Bosch, opened a workshop in Hamburg for servicing auto-electrical products. Over time, the range extended to cover diesel fuelling systems and – in the 1980s – to diagnostics for petrol-injection and anti-lock-braking systems. The Bosch Car Service concept of all-round servicing and repairs was launched in the late 1990s, by which time Bosch had become the largest independent automotive component manufacturer in the world. The Bosch Car Service network has 87 members in Hungary.
Mónika Hack
+36 70 510 5516
Bosch has been present in Hungary since 1899. After its re-establishment as a regional trading company in 1991, Bosch has grown into one of Hungary’s largest foreign industrial employers. In financial 2012, its 10 Hungarian subsidiaries then had a total turnover of HUF 594 billion, and sales of the Bosch Group on the Hungarian market – not counting trade among its own companies – was HUF 133 billion. The Bosch Group in Hungary employed around 8 500 people at the beginning of 2013. In addition to its manufacturing, commercial and development business, Bosch has a network of sales and service operations that covers the entire country.
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In 2013, its roughly 281,000 associates generated sales of 46.1 billion euros. (NB: Due to a change in accounting policies, the 2013 figures can only be compared to a limited extent with the 2012 figures). Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions (former Automotive Technology), Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 360 subsidiaries and regional companies in some 50 countries. If its sales and service partners are included, then Bosch is represented in roughly 150 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. In 2013, the Bosch Group invested some 4.5 billion euros in research and development and applied for some 5,000 patents. This is an average of 20 patents per day. The Bosch Group’s products and services are designed to fascinate, and to improve the quality of life by providing solutions which are both innovative and beneficial. In this way, the company offers technology worldwide that is “Invented for life.”
Additional information is available online at www.bosch.hu