- BMW and Tata Technologies will form a 50/50 joint venture in India.
- The JV will develop software for autonomous vehicles, infotainment systems, and in-vehicle digital services.
- Three offices will be opened in Pune, Bangalore, and Chennai.
BMW and Tata Technologies have signed an agreement to form a joint venture company that will develop software for the German automaker. The company will work on code for autonomous driving, infotainment, and in-vehicle digital services.
The joint venture will establish locations in Pune, Bangalore, and Chennai, India. The primary development and operations activities will take place in the first two locations. Chennai will focus on developing software for business and IT solutions, with an emphasis on digitalization and automation of product development, production, and sales.
Read: BMW And Mercedes Finalize Joint Venture For Chinese EV Charging Network
“Our collaboration with Tata Technologies will accelerate our progress in the field of the software defined vehicle,” said Christoph Grote, senior vice president of software for the BMW group. “In international comparison, India boasts a large number of talents with outstanding software skills, who can contribute to our software competence.”
Tata Technologies and BMW will each own a 50 percent stake in the business but, to start, it will be staffed by 100 trained professionals from the Indian company. That will allow the joint venture to contribute to software projects immediately, but it will eventually grow to employ thousands of software engineers.
“In the evolving automotive landscape, the journey towards software-defined vehicle represents a pivotal shift in automotive software and vehicle development methodologies,” said Nachiket Paranjpe, Tata Tech’s president of automotive sales. “We will leverage our deep domain knowledge and SDV expertise to collaborate with the BMW Group towards engineering vehicles that are not just technologically advanced but deliver exceptional experiences to consumers around the globe.”
BMW says that working with Tata Technologies will not only provide with software engineering expertise, but that the location of the joint venture’s offices will allow it to run 24/7 operations. The automaker currently has software hubs in Germany, the U.S., South Africa, Portugal, china, and India, per Autonews. It also operates an assembly plant in Chennai.
“The expansion of international DevOps hubs has clearly proved to be a successful model for the BMW Group,” said Alexander Buresch, CIO and Senior Vice President of BMW Group IT. “I am therefore extremely pleased that we have found a strong and valued technology partner with Tata Technologies and are now also expanding our footprint in India.”
Tata Technologies is a subsidiary of Tata Motors, India’s biggest automaker. It provides software help to companies in a variety of industries, including automotive, aeronautics, and heavy machinery.
