EUS President Joe Biden wants to invest a trillion dollars in the modernization of his country. After much back and forth, the American Congress has now approved a gigantic investment program in the largely ailing and outdated infrastructure.
A breakthrough that not only the US President is happy about, but also a man on the other side of the Atlantic: Roland Busch, the new CEO of Siemens.
“The strong stimulus program for the USA will also be a stimulus for Siemens,” said Busch at the company’s Munich headquarters. A year ago, the Franconian took over the operative business of the technology group. Now he has presented the figures for a strong first year under his leadership.
Despite Corona and delivery problems, Busch had raised his earnings forecasts four times. In the end, he closed with a 59 percent increase in profit to 6.7 billion euros.
Sales rose by eleven percent to over 62 billion euros. Busch spoke of a “historic and outstanding year” for his company, which employs more than 300,000 people worldwide.
But looking ahead is more exciting than looking back: Siemens has orders worth over 71 billion euros on its books. In no other market did the company achieve such a strong increase in orders as in the country in which Busch sees the dawn of golden years for Siemens: in the USA. The plus is 26 percent.
Siemens employs 40,000 people in the United States and has invested $ 40 billion in its sites there over the past two decades. Last year the Germans turned over 13.5 billion euros in the USA, two billion more than on the German home market.
Now Busch is speculating on many billions from Biden’s infrastructure trillion. The programs were aimed at expanding renewable energies, digitization, CO2 reduction and modern forms of mobility, Busch lists – “All topics that we use!”
The Germans already set a scent brand in the US infrastructure in the summer when Siemens Mobility landed an order to renew the Amtrak fleet. For the equivalent of almost three billion dollars, Siemens will initially deliver 73 trains, including for the first time so-called venture trains with hybrid drives.
USA wanted trains with hybrid drives. Siemens can deliver
The contracts also include an option for a further 140 trains and additional maintenance contracts. In addition to the considerable financial volume, the major order also means a considerable boost to the image of Siemens in the USA.
The American Amtrak trains are legendary and repeatedly the setting for Hollywood productions. A special fan is President Biden, who sat on the train so often during his time as Senator that he was nicknamed “Amtrak Joe”. In the future, he will then be able to travel in hybrid trains from Siemens, with panoramic windows, WiFi and a USB connection at the seat.
“The USA wanted trains with an alternative drive. And we can deliver it. From Sacramento, ”said Busch yesterday, almost triumphantly. Siemens’ Californian railroad works is one of the largest of its kind on the American continent and is partially powered by electricity from a 2.1 megawatt solar system.
Siemens successes in the USA are also setbacks for the old rival General Electric – GE for short. It was once the most valuable company in the world and has recently gotten into serious trouble. At the beginning of the week, GE announced the break-up of the conglomerate.
Similar to the split that Siemens had already carried out a year ago when Busch predecessor Joe Kaeser cut off Siemens Energy and Siemens Healthineers from the parent company. “At that time we acted from a position of strength,” said Busch, with a swipe at the US competitor, whom he sees “two steps ahead”.
In fact, Siemens is worth more today than it was before the split. “For others, the supply chains are tearing down – we deliver,” says Busch confidently.
For the future, Busch wants to profile Siemens as a “focused technology company”. The Munich-based company wants to increase its research and development spending from 4.9 to 5.5 billion euros in the coming year.
This means that you spend more on innovation than any other competitor, says Busch. Artificial intelligence, smart cities, networked automation – Siemens wants to be at the forefront of everything.
Together with a US partner, Siemens has recently even been experimenting with growing lettuce, tomatoes and sprouts in vertical farms inside buildings. “I almost want to say: superfood,” says Busch. That almost sounds a bit like a general store again.
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