Audi, BMW Group and Daimler have agreed to buy Nokia Corporation’s mapping and location services business Here.
“The acquisition is intended to secure the long term availability of Here’s products and services as an open, independent and value creating platform for cloud-based maps and other mobility services accessible to all customers from the automotive industry and other sectors,” the partners said in a statement.
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The three will each hold an equal stake in Here; none plans to acquire a majority interest. Subject to the approval of the relevant antitrust authorities, the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016.
Here said it is laying the foundations for the next generation of mobility and location based services.
“For the automotive industry this is the basis for new assistance systems and ultimately fully autonomous driving. Extremely precise digital maps will be used in combination with real-time vehicle data in order to increase road safety and to facilitate innovative new products and services. On the basis of the shared raw data, all automobile manufacturers can offer their customers differentiated and brand-specific services.”
Swarm intelligence will create new information density for road maps – the social benefits of are claimed to be enormous: They facilitate warnings of hazards in real time, of icy roads for example, based on calculations of individual data such as ABS activations and outside temperature. Upcoming traffic jams will be identified more precisely in the future, significantly reducing the risk of accidents. In this way, the vision of accident-free driving is gradually becoming reality. In a further stage, the data could be used to learn about critical bends on the road, in order to warn drivers in good time or to activate assistance systems. Anticipation of green phases of stoplights could navigate vehicles through an urban area on a ‘green wave’ with the appropriate engine performance and minimised fuel consumption.
High precision maps are important for autonomous driving and many other forms of assistance systems, as these technologies require an up to date plan of a vehicle’s surroundings exact to the nearest centimeter, in order to react in real time. While Here already produces extremely precise static maps, they can be verified more exactly and continually updated with a constant flow of data from vehicles’ surroundings.
Here provides mapping and location intelligence for nearly 200 countries in more than 50 languages and is one of the main providers of mapping and location services. The company will continue to develop its position as a strong and independent provider of maps and location-based services, will expand its product offering and continue to make it available to all customers across industries.
The management of Here will continue to be independent – with the goal of moving the Here business case forward as a platform, open to all customers. The consortium will not interfere in operational business.
