Bosch joins Intel, BMW, Audi, and Mercedes, buys stake in mapping company Here
On Thursday morning, Bosch announced that it is buying a five-percent stake in the mapping and location services company Here. In doing so, it joins other shareholders Audi, BMW, Daimler-Benz, and Intel-the automakers having bought the company for $2.7 billion from Nokia in 2015, with Intel then buying a 15 percent stake in early 2017.
"Bosch is more than cars," says Dr. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. "Industry 4.0, smart homes, and smart cities are rapidly growing areas of business for us, in which establishing and expanding data-based services will result in synergies with Here."
While regular readers will be most familiar with Here as one of the companies working on the very detailed maps to be used by autonomous cars, some drivers won't need to wait that long to benefit from its technology. On Wednesday, Here also announced the commercial launch of its Safety Services Suite, which will provide localized hazard warnings and up-to-date road sign information. The services will first show up in BMWs in North America and Europe in mid-2018.
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