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Procedure:
Here CEO
Edzard Overbeek was
supposed to provide tickets for robo-cars
Photo: Jonas Holthaus / laif
The data house Here, acquired in 2015 by Audi, Daimler and BMW from Nokia for 2.6 billion euros, was to become the bulwark of the German auto industry in the fight against Google for robot cars and digitization.
Here boss
Edzard Overbeek
(53) conjured up the "enormous potential" outside of the industry, one dreamed of quadrupling sales.
The dream has burst.
Sales are falling, not even reaching a billion euros in 2020, less than in 2015. Since the takeover, over 1.1 billion euros in losses have accumulated.
Some main owners are losing interest and want to make massive savings.
The situation is "critical", say insiders.
At the core of the misery are the HD cards for autonomous driving.
With them, Here should secure the independence of the German car companies - the strategic rationale for buying Here.
Overbeek invested hundreds of millions of euros in the technology.
But autonomous driving - and with it the expected income - not only comes much later than expected.
It is even unclear whether Here can contribute anything at all.
The leading manufacturers of autonomous driving systems create their own maps.
And the robo cars keep their cards up to date themselves.
Not only the Google spin-off Waymo is doing this, but also Argo AI, the joint venture between Volkswagen and Ford. It doesn't help that Here is allowed to supply HD cards for the driver assistance system of the new Mercedes S-Class.
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