(BASF) -- In 2010, BASF's research and development (R&D) expenditure reached a new record level, rising to nearly ┬1.5 billion (previous year 2009: ┬1.40 billion). The company attaches great importance to continuity in R&D and has further increased its commitment even in tough times, says Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer, Member of the Board of Executive Directors and Research Executive Director.
More than 9,600 R&D employees are working in international and interdisciplinary teams on about 3,000 projects aimed at finding answers to the challenges of the future. With new products, processes and system solutions, BASF is an important innovation driver for almost all sectors of industry and helps its customers achieve long-term success.
Major prerequisites for successful research are the right choice of strategic research topics, excellent project management and a smoothly functioning infrastructure. For example, BASF had set itself for 2010 the goal of generating sales of ┬6 billion with new and improved products and applications that have been on the market for less than five years. The company overachieved this goal by a substantial margin.
In the next five years, BASF will be investing a three-digit million sum for battery-related activities. These include the company's own R&D programs devoted to optimizing lithium-ion technology and developing completely new battery concepts, and cooperations with our partners, for example in the research network Electrochemistry and Batteries.