Automakers tap mobile software experts in search of premium cache

DETROIT, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Software expertise has become
the new battleground for upscale automakers as the latest
premium cars compete on high-tech innovations rather than sheer
power or luxury, something that requires millions of lines of
code.
Mercedes has been hiring staff in Sunnyvale, California -
not far from the headquarters of Internet leaders Alphabet and
Yahoo (O:YHOO) - while rival Audi, the premium brand owned by Volkswagen
(VOWG_p.DE), said it plans to add software engineers.
Most notably, BMW BMWG.DE has created a 200-strong digital
innovation hub in Chicago, hiring software engineers who worked
for mobile phone pioneer Nokia (HE:NOKIA), as the German carmaker seeks to
get ahead in the area of assistance systems and software
applications.
"Their task is to develop a premium experience in the
digital area and in mobility services," BMW board member Ian
Robertson told Reuters at the Detroit auto show.
The German luxury automakers are feeling the heat from more
mainstream rivals offering smartphone connectivity and advanced
driver assistance systems like automated braking and
sophisticated cruise control in their most basic models. At the
same time, anti-pollution rules are forcing them to abandon
their traditional tactic of offering cars with more horsepower
and a higher number of cylinders.
Without beefing up digital expertise, German automakers will
struggle to offer new premium features such as autonomous
driving and car-sharing services to compete with new rivals such
as Alphabet GOOGL.O - formerly known as Google - and Uber
UBER.UL .
Meanwhile, established automakers like Ford Motor (N:F) Co F.N
and General Motors Co (N:GM) GM.N are pushing advanced
semi-autonomous driving functions.
"Younger customers demand the latest connectivity features,
and German premium automakers need to develop new offerings in
the digital arena which cater to this," said Thilo Koslowski,
vice president of the automotive practice at technology market
research firm Gartner.
BMW's Chicago team helped to develop 'Bumper Detect' a new
system unveiled last week which uses BMW's onboard camera and
sensors to photograph potential thieves or vandals.
"The car can take photographs of another vehicle which may
have left a dent in your parked car, and send pictures to your
mobile device," Robertson said.
The Bavarian automaker already has several software
development centers in Munich and elsewhere and said it will
continue to recruit staff in 2016 to help "the advancement of
new technologies, including the ever-increasing scale of
digitalization."
The team of 200 staff in Chicago, based on a nucleus of
engineers who left Nokia's handset unit after it was bought by
Microsoft Corp MSFT.O in 2014, has been assembled over the
past 18 months. It is the latest example of a traditional
metal-bashing carmaker hiring mobile phone and software
expertise.
It is housed in the same building as HERE, the
high-definition mapping business recently acquired by BMW,
Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE unit Audi and Daimler DAIGn.DE from
Finland's Nokia in December.
It is not far from Continental AG's infotainment and
connectivity unit based Deer Park, Illinois, to the northwest of
Chicago. Continental hired hundreds of software engineers there
when it bought Motorola's automotive technology business in
2006.