Carmakers' "clever moves"

The Detroit Car Show is testimony to the close alliances forged between carmakers and IT companies in order to beat Google, report Max Hägler, Claus Hulverscheidt and Joachim Becker in Süddeutsche Zeitung. BMW is cooperating with Intel and Israeli sensor specialist Mobileye; BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Intel have forged the Here mapping service alliance; and German carmakers also have agreed to join forces to set up a European fast-charging network. “Until now, everybody thought Google was setting the standards, but that’s not the case,” industry expert Gabriel Seiberth at business consultancy Accenture told the authors. He said the carmakers have loosened their dependency on Google through a number of recent “very clever moves”. An unnamed German car manager said: “We can build an iPhone if we try hard. But they can’t mass-produce a good car.”

For background, read the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.

Also consult the factsheets Early e-car starter BMW plans new mobility sprint, Reluctant Daimler plans “radical” push into new mobility world, and Dieselgate forces VW to embrace green mobility.