Paris Motor Show 1905: Bosch representatives from across Europe traveled to this major event. The company founder himself arrived from Stuttgart. But when the group gathered for a photograph, the occasion that brought the people together represented a much more important step in the company's history. The French Bosch representative, the Compagnie des Magnétos Simms-Bosch, had invited the German guests to the opening celebration for its new factory in Rue Violet in Paris. It marked the start of the first Bosch production operation outside Germany. For the first time, magnetos were to be manufactured under a Bosch patent, but outside the company's Stuttgart plants.
The Compagnie des Magnétos Simms-Bosch was founded six years earlier by Robert Bosch and Frederick R. Simms, a British engineer. Together, the two wanted to bring exciting ideas from Bosch to the French and Belgian automotive market. The business agreement spelled out the following division of labor: Bosch contributed his patents and Simms his capital to the venture. Simms also was to assume the management. Initially, the new business partners considered commissioning a French company to produce the magnetos under the Bosch patent. But they abandoned the plan when the quality of the samples turned out to be poor. At the same time, a new import agreement between France and Germany cleared the way for low-cost product supplies from Stuttgart. So that local production would be possible in the foreseeable future, Bosch sent one of his best associates to France: Max Rall, a man who had gained substantial technical know-how as a Bosch apprentice. He was told to put this knowledge to use in helping the British engineers at Simms.

At the end of 1905, when the French company finally opened the "workshop," as it was called, the relationship between Bosch and Simms had become tense. Again and again, the two argued over licenses and patents. Both business partners seriously considered going their separate ways in France and Belgium. Initially, Simms made a takeover offer to Robert Bosch, which the latter weighed carefully. But when the sale was close to being sealed, Simms found himself in financial straits. Now it was Bosch's turn to break away from his difficult partner and buy his stake in the French company. To overcome the resistance of Simms, who was determined to hold on to the lucrative French business, Bosch lawyers meticulously checked the contracts for loopholes and soon found just what they needed. The original contract foresaw no delivery commitments on Bosch's part. Bosch therefore immediately stopped all exports to France. Without the supplies, Simms got into serious trouble over a major order from Renault he had just received. Heavy contract penalties loomed if the order was not fulfilled. Simms thus had no choice but to agree to the sale of his stake to Bosch. In June 1906, Bosch became the sole owner of the company and factory in Paris.