Connect with us

Audi, Daimler And BMW Finalize Nokia Purchase

(Credit: Daimler)

Latest Car News

Audi, Daimler And BMW Finalize Nokia Purchase

HERE HD mapping

HERE HD mapping (Credit: Daimler)

Several months ago we reported that Audi, Daimler and BMW were in the process of buying Nokia’s digital mapping service, called HERE. The sale is now officially complete, going to the three German automakers for a cool 2.55 billion euros.

While it might sound crazy that anyone would pay that much for HERE when so many cars run on Google Maps or Apple Maps, that’s exactly the point. These three automakers are making a play to get out from under the thumb on tech giants, and instead be able to control their own destiny.

One of the most critical elements of self-driving cars is accurate maps. After all, how will a vehicle know where to go if it doesn’t have directions? Controlling such a resource will be worth far more than a few billion euros.

HERE is actually huge, even if drivers don’t realize it. In fact, it’s loaded in four out of every five new vehicles that are sold in the European and North American markets. Without it, most navigation systems wouldn’t function.

If Daimler, BMW and Audi hadn’t banded together and purchased HERE, likely a tech company of some sort would have. That point would have whittled away at the auto industry’s power. Instead, this move has helped to solidify it at a time when vehicles are becoming digital at an increasing rate.

To their credit, the three German automakers aren’t going to hoard this technology and only sell it to competitors for ridiculous fees. HERE will be run independently, serving any other automakers who want to use the service.

In their respective press releases, BMW, Daimler and Audi all emphasized that they can help accelerate the process “of collecting advanced high quality location based data” thanks to the more than 2 million connected vehicles the three automakers have being driven by customers every day. That means the mapping service in cars would be able to pinpoint your location at any moment, not just within a block but down to the exact spot the vehicle is occupying. It’s the end of subpar onboard navigation systems for cars and the beginning of a new era.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in Latest Car News

SPONSORED

Newsletter

Get Our StoriesIn Your Inbox

Subscribe for our latest news, reviews, and lists.

Popular Stories

Recent Posts

SPONSORED
To Top