“Daimler & Co prepare for battle against Google”

Audi, BMW, and Daimler hit the bull’s eye by managing to enlist Intel and Asian investors for their mapping service HERE, which is central to their autonomous driving ambitions, writes Michael Kröger for Spiegel Online. “For the German makers of premium cars, this broad alliance is the beginning of a new era,” writes Kröger. He says carmakers have finally understood that only cooperation can bring the clout necessary to compete with Google and other IT giants in the future mobility race.
BMW, VW subsidiary Audi, and Daimler agreed to buy Berlin-based Nokia mapping unit HERE for almost three billion euros in 2015. Digital maps form the basis for driverless cars, and the carmakers wanted to avoid reliance on Google and Apple mapping services.

Read the article in German here.

For more background on BMW’s and Daimler’s plans, read the CLEW factsheets Reluctant Daimler plans “radical” push into new mobility world and Early e-car starter BMW plans new mobility sprint.