BMW, Audi, Mercedes to bid for Nokia’s Here maps

nokia-here

As The Wall Street Journal understands, three of Germany’s most notable car manufacturers, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, will be forming an alliance along with Chinese web services firm, Baidu, to bid for a controlling stake in Nokia‘s Here mapping division.

Said deal is understood to be worth “considerably more than €2 billion (RM8.09 billion)” with discussions already well underway. Sources close to the affair cite that a time length of around “two weeks” will be when a decision is expected to be made. The Finnish tech giant recently hinted its plans to offload Here, prompting said move(s) to purchase the unit – however, Nokia remains adamant in holding a minority stake.

While said (proposed) takeover may appear random (especially when one considers the rivalry between the big three), the move appears to be a consolidated one. Potential bidders, reportedly, include to prevent rival tech firms such as Apple, Google and Facebook Inc. from acquiring a vital piece of technology required for autonomous driving and in-car services.

“The greatest threat to the automobile industry would be if Google developed an operating system for self-driving cars and made it available free to everyone,” a source disclosed. “We need the map for the operating system in the cars.” Notable car manufacturers who employ Nokia’s mapping unit include BMW, Daimler, the Volkswagen Group, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan-Renault.

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Gregory Sze

An “actor” by training, Gregory Sze realised that he has had enough of drama in his life. Following his number one passion (acting was actually number two), he decided to make the jump into the realm of automotive journalism. He appreciates the simple things in life – a simple car with nothing but back-to-basics mechanical engineering and minimal electronics on board.

 

Comments

  • Jimmy on May 07, 2015 at 5:37 pm

    Hello Nokia, how is your phone business now?
    Rock solid durability, still viable?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 17
    • Just because they are bad in somethinh doesnt mean they are bad in other things. Just like proton bad in auto industry but they are good at syok sendiri.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 0
  • seancorr (Member) on May 08, 2015 at 2:10 am

    Aww crap, I’d take Google Maps and Waze (owned by Google too) anytime over any other mapping software. They’re just too far ahead of the competition.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 8
    • Let give you a few reasons why you’re wrong
      Also Waze has 1 good feature over here maps and that is very accurate traffic reading.
      That said Google maps and waze have a few things in common
      They are both slower than Here drive
      They both rely on good data connection
      And if you go into areas where there arent any cellphone reception you are screwed.
      Here maps is way faster,
      can be used offline with turn by turn voice navigation,
      you don’t need to spend a single sen on data,
      your phone battery will last much longer since you’re not relying on data,
      very fast recalculation and re-routing of roads if you take a wrong turn
      You can use the maps to view your exact location regardless when you are driving or just walking.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
      • Let me give you reason why you are not right too.

        Once a route has been calculated, you do not need data connection because the relevant map has been downloaded.

        When you turn off data when using Here, you won’t get traffic info anymore.

        Here map recalculation is fast because you turn off the data and it doesn’t take traffic info into consideration.

        Btw, Here aka Navteq map is not that updated, at least in Malaysia.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 2
  • Bob Vettel on May 08, 2015 at 8:06 am

    Having used HERE Maps it is actually surprisingly good. Plus it has the added advantage of offline, downloadable maps which makes it the GPS app to have for travelers who require GPS but is unwilling to pay exorbitant data roaming fees

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 1
 

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