The global orientation of the Bosch Group is almost as old as the Bosch company itself. The first international Bosch branches were set up at the end of the 19th century, and work on the construction of a Bosch factory in the United States began in 1909. Today, Bosch is active on every continent and has subsidiaries and associated companies in more than 50 countries. Bosch operates roughly 290 production sites worldwide, of which more than 200 are located outside Germany – in Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia.