Daimler and BMW further cement their partnership in the future of mobility
Following approval from regulators to merge their “mobility” services, BMW and Daimler are set to partner on delivering an increasingly agile, digitised, multi-modal transportation.
Competition to deliver cost-competitive, high end products and services across the automotive sector continues to grow apace, leading to greater collaboration to bring shared advantages and increased speed to market. The collaboration between Daimler and BMW will also lead to the transformation of parking and electric car-charging services. The urban mobility market could reach a value of $25bn by 2024, according to a Navigant report.
“Our vision is to create a major global player for seamless and intelligent connected mobility services together,” said Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.
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At present, Daimler’s Car2Go programme and BMW’s DriveNow division operate more than 20,000 vehicles in 30 international cities, where the need for connectivity will further improve the lives of everyday citizens. Both parties will partner to also develop further capabilities within car-sharing and ride-hailing in the US.
BMW has also recently been recognised as the first high-end automotive business to adopt Tmall Genie voice assistant. Catering towards the Chinese market, the technology will be embedded into each BMW model by the end of 2019, delivering further connectivity and entertainment functions.
“With the integration of Alibaba’s Tmall Genie in BMW vehicles in China we are adding a digital ecosystem, which will open up new possibilities that customers can access quickly and safely from the car. This development sees BMW reaching a new milestone in China in terms of intelligent connectivity between the customer’s vehicle and their digital touchpoints,” commented Dieter May, Senior Vice President Digital Services and Products at the BMW Group.