GOTHENBURG, Sweden--April 23, 2013: Connected services specialist WirelessCar supported BMW and its local service partner China Unicom to introduce ConnectedDrive services to China since September 2012. BMW's services include emergency, breakdown, and concierge calls as well as remote door unlock, traffic information and further internet-based services. Now, the German car manufacturer provides vehicles incorporating connected services to the Chinese market -- following Europe, North America and the Middle East, where BMW has already utilized WirelessCar's capabilities.
“WirelessCar was a key partner in bringing BMW's global ConnectedDrive service platform to China on schedule. The project required significant local market adaptation and working with multiple partners to achieve the goals. Their teamwork and support was essential to our success.”
The Chinese market offers high potential with close to 20 million cars sold in 2012. It is also a highly complex and regulated market. That is the reason why WirelessCar started early to build up specific know-how about this market with a first pilot project initiated in 2008, when, in conjunction with local partners, WirelessCar demonstrated a breakdown-call from a test vehicle in Beijing. In 2011, WirelessCar founded its own subsidiaries in Beijing and Tianjin in order to build partnerships, joint ventures and government relationships that are mandatory to operate a successful business in China. Today, it employs 21 experts in China in the fields of development, testing and service operation. For BMW in China, WirelessCar adapted its call center applications to the local market requirements and provides support and maintenance to China Unicom. China Unicom is BMW's local telecommunication supplier, which partnered with WirelessCar in this commercial project.
WirelessCar's solutions are provided via its Telematics Service Delivery Platform (TSDP), a comprehensive off-board platform based on the open framework Next Generation Telematics Pattern (NGTP ). NGTP's open source architecture makes it possible to link content, call centers and networks more easily to speed up time to market. WirelessCar monitors its services around the clock to guarantee market-leading service availability.
Francis Dance, BMW ConnectedDrive Senior Manager in Beijing, stated: "WirelessCar was a key partner in bringing BMW's global ConnectedDrive service platform to China on schedule. The project required significant local market adaptation and working with multiple partners to achieve the goals. Their teamwork and support was essential to our success."
"China is a unique and complex market" says Martin Rosell, Managing Director WirelessCar, "and our partnerships with China Unicom and other important actors allows us to benefit from their unique expertise on this market as well as providing licenses to operate in China. Being the largest market in the world, this marks a credible step in WirelessCar's global footprint and shows our commitment to China as the largest and fastest growing market".
