Automotive IT News and Facts
Neelie Kroes urged Europe’s IT industry last week to “aim high” and help Brussels forge a truly European Cloud computing strategy. The European commissioner in charge of Europe’s digital agenda said data protection, interoperability and standardization are three of the core objectives of her policies. Kroes cited a World Economic Forum report that said 90 [...]
Following the success of its automotiveDay conference at the CeBIT high-tech fair in Hanover, automotiveIT is hosting a one-day event covering in-car information technology in September. The conference will focus on the major IT challenges and opportunities the auto industry has today. These include: electric mobility, car-to-car communication, traffic management, driver assistance and infotainment. The [...]
With BMW’s announcement this week that it is starting a car-sharing venture with Sixt, the industry is getting serious about finding alternatives to traditional car-ownership models. BMW is the second premium car maker to venture into car sharing. For several years already, competitor Daimler has been developing its car2go scheme, which deploys smart vehicles across [...]
Google is trialing an inductive battery charging technology developed by Evatran, a US charging specialist. The cloud computing and internet search company has several electric vehicles for short-range travel arounds its campus in Mountain View, California. It will initially use the Plugless Power station to understand how the charging process works. “The interest shown by [...]
German premium car maker BMW plans to launch a car-sharing venture in an attempt to bolster its innovative mobility credentials and attract new customers to the brand. BMW is planning the new venture, which will be called “DriveNow,” with car-rental group Sixt. It will start in Munich and Berlin in April. The two companies said [...]
Keen to bring future key technologies inhouse, Mercedes-Benz will start producing its own fuel cell stacks in Vancouver from 2013. The premium car maker, the core division of Germany’s Daimler group, said construction is starting immediately on a 2000 square meter facility that is cheduled for completion in 2012. “To consolidate our leading position in [...]
General Motors named Karl-Friedrich Stracke CEO of Opel/Vauxhall, effective April 1. Stracke, 55 and a 32 year GM veteran succeeds Nick Reilly, who continues as the head of GM’s European operations. Reilly will chair the Opel supervisory board. “The European market and our European operations are important to General Motors, and these moves will ensure [...]
BMW will show an electric vehicle produced in China for the Chinese market next month. Norbert Reithofer, CEO of the German premium car maker, told reporters at the group’s annual earnings press conference that the “New energy vehicle” will be a long version of the BMW 5 Series as a plugin hybrid. BMW will show [...]
A survey of potential European electric-vehicle buyers found that most would expect a battery-powered range of 480km before recharging. The survey, carried out by consultants Deloitte, found that 74 pc of 4,760 Europeans polled in late January and early February considered such a range a precondition for the purchase or lease of an electric vehicle. [...]
German companies have a long way to go with the implementation of a comprehensive business intelligence (BI) strategy, according to a consultants’study. The study found that two-thirds of German companies have adopted business-intelligence strategies and are using information gathered to gain competitive advantage. But only one in five is using its BI strategy as a [...]
