[RahulNagaraj]

According to media reports, BMW Group & Tata Technologies have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture (JV) to develop automotive software in India. The JV will also see the establishment of an IT development hub in Bengaluru, Pune & Chennai.



Reports state that the main development & operation activities will be established in Bengaluru & Pune, while Chennai will focus on business IT solutions. However, the joint statement also mentions that the execution of the JV is subject to review & approval from all relevant authorities. The new JV will take advantage of Tata Technologies' digital engineering expertise, contributing to BMW's expansion of software coding capabilities across global IT hubs.

The joint statement states, "The JV will focus on strategic software development, including solutions for software-defined vehicles (SDV). In automotive software, the focus will be on automated driving, infotainment, and digital services." The statement further adds, "In business IT, the emphasis will be on digitalisation and automation of product development, production and sales."

Speaking about the JV, Warren Harris, CEO & MD of Tata Technologies, said, "Our collaboration with the BMW Group demonstrates our commitment to providing top-tier solutions in automotive software and digital engineering to customers across the world."

Source: Reuters

Link to Team-BHP news

[amitverma]

Have they seen the software issues in the Safari/Harrier? After Mercedes brought software in house, BMW had to do something. But they are going to quality control the hell out of whatever Tata dishes out.

[frewper]

Why does a company like BMW need a IT Behemoth like TCS. Its 2024 not 1980 that software capabilities are rare and experts are needed.

Best place to build Automotive software is inhouse rather that send it to a third party.

Looks like no is interested in building anything on their own now a days and want to just find a supplier.

[DivyanshuDiv]

Originally Posted by frewper

Why does a company like BMW need a IT Behemoth like TCS.

It is Tata Technologies and not TCS. One of there primary sector of expertise is automobiles.

[Jordygt500]

I'm afraid of the terms software defined vehicles and digital services. What will be the future? Subscription based music system.

[AMG Power]

BMW already works with the Indian arm of a large IT corporate and has been doing so for quite some time so I wonder what this noise is all about.

[newenergy]

This news I saw initially on Twitter/X on 1st April and I thought this was a prank to be honest. TATA itself is facing so many QC issues specially on software front. If you want to do something right, do it yourself. This should be a motto of a reputed brand like BMW. BMW should learn a thing or two from Tesla. Heck they can even take Android Automotive and customize it like what Geely group is doing.

[Livnletcarsliv]

Originally Posted by amitverma

Have they seen the software issues in the Safari/Harrier? After Mercedes brought software in house, BMW had to do something. But they are going to quality control the hell out of whatever Tata dishes out.

Originally Posted by frewper

Why does a company like BMW need a IT Behemoth like TCS. Its 2024 not 1980 that software capabilities are rare and experts are needed.

Best place to build Automotive software is inhouse rather that send it to a third party.

Looks like no is interested in building anything on their own now a days and want to just find a supplier.

Originally Posted by Jordygt500

I'm afraid of the terms software defined vehicles and digital services. What will be the future? Subscription based music system.

Originally Posted by AMG Power

BMW already works with the Indian arm of a large IT corporate and has been doing so for quite some time so I wonder what this noise is all about.

Originally Posted by newenergy

This news I saw initially on Twitter/X on 1st April and I thought this was a prank to be honest. TATA itself is facing so many QC issues specially on software front. If you want to do something right, do it yourself. This should be a motto of a reputed brand like BMW. BMW should learn a thing or two from Tesla. Heck they can even take Android Automotive and customize it like what Geely group is doing.

Being an insider all I can say is that this NEW JV encompasses a lot of services and products - not just infotainment or connected car tech. Please understand that BMW's expertise is designing and manufacturing of cars. Not building softwares. There is no auto brand (for that any company) in the world that does everything in-house.

The QC and infotainment issues of Tata cars are no where related to this JV. It's a complete stand alone entity (the JV entity). So comparing the infotainment issues of Tata cars with BMW cars is totally unwarranted and irrelevant.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by Livnletcarsliv

Being an insider all I can say is that this NEW JV encompasses a lot of services and products - not just infotainment or connected car tech. Please understand that BMW's expertise is designing and manufacturing of cars. Not building softwares. There is no auto brand (for that any company) in the world that does everything in-house.

I am sorry but this is false equivalence and the exact problem that many legacy makers will be facing in the new world. The aspiration for all EV makers should be to immitate Tesla, if they want to compete, and have a software defined car. Outsourcing such a crucial component of the overall user experience for an EV tells me that either BMW have put their hands up and know they can't do it or there are two parts to their software stack, one which controls the car and the other which is just infotainemnt. Either ways its a bad call - outsourcing the full software to a third party company or a software stack so convoluted that it makes sending out updates needlessly complicated and difficult to do. Where is the ambition and the confidence of such a major company who I assume is not short on money?

[newenergy]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

I am sorry but this is false equivalence and the exact problem that many legacy makers will be facing in the new world. The aspiration for all EV makers should be to immitate Tesla, if they want to compete, and have a software defined car. Outsourcing such a crucial component of the overall user experience for an EV tells me that either BMW have put their hands up and know they can't do it or there are two parts to their software stack, one which controls the car and the other which is just infotainemnt. Either ways its a bad call - outsourcing the full software to a third party company or a software stack so convoluted that it makes sending out updates needlessly complicated and difficult to do. Where is the ambition and the confidence of such a major company who I assume is not short on money?

This is exactly my point. This is just like macOS vs Windows. The reason why macOS is so efficient is because Apple controls the entire stack. The same goes for Tesla. If BMW wants to compete in software-defined cars of the future, it makes no sense to outsource this critical bit. The outcome will be a disaster for sure.

[Livnletcarsliv]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

I am sorry but this is false equivalence and the exact problem that many legacy makers will be facing in the new world. The aspiration for all EV makers should be to immitate Tesla, if they want to compete, and have a software defined car. Outsourcing such a crucial component of the overall user experience for an EV tells me that either BMW have put their hands up and know they can't do it or there are two parts to their software stack, one which controls the car and the other which is just infotainemnt. Either ways its a bad call - outsourcing the full software to a third party company or a software stack so convoluted that it makes sending out updates needlessly complicated and difficult to do. Where is the ambition and the confidence of such a major company who I assume is not short on money?

While I cannot reveal more details about the JV, BMW never mentioned anywhere "crucial" or "full software". And a significant correction is that this is not a typical outsourcing setup or third party service. This is a JV, which means, BMW plays the major role here. In this JV, in general there is no one single piece/part of the car that is entirely dependant on Tata, with some non-critical exceptions. And this JV set-up of BMW is not something new. There are similar JV's in other locations of the world. E.g. - https://www.criticaltechworks.com/about/. The scope of these JV's are not limited to one particular geo, but the global market.


On the other hand, the EV space has significantly slowed down globally. India may be an exception due to various other factors (which is another topic of discussion). Even otherwise, BMW (and many other companies) is investing in other technologies as well (Hydrogen, Hybrid, Solar, etc.). IMO, comparing every aspect of any legacy company with Tesla is wrong. Compared to when Tesla started (especially in the early 2000's) and now, the situation is completely different.

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by AMG Power

BMW already works with the Indian arm of a large IT corporate and has been doing so for quite some time so I wonder what this noise is all about.

Agreements such as this have been made plentiful in this industry. I had, back in 2018, personally enabled a similar large deal to develop L2/L3 ADAS features for a large NA AUTO OEM. None of these, including mine, made it to the news.

It could have only if it was agreed that the parties would go to press with this news. There is always a price to pay for this which could have been a huge discount on the services provided. Happens all the time.

The reaction we are all having about the news is the expected outcome and hence the ROI of the 'discount'.

There you go - I just let out an industry secret.

[thomahawk]

Seems to be a Tata Elxi kind of deal. I don't think this means BMW would become less reliable in tech; pretty sure Tata will have to meet quality standards set by BMW and not the other way around.

[SubhoMoto]

Majority of the IT companies, be it TCS, HCL, KPIT, Tata Elxsi, Tata Tech etc. have such kind of agreements in place with major OEMs & Tier-1s for developing SW solutions & services for CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared Mobility & Electrification). The kind of solutions that these companies provide is something that the OEMs don't have much capabilities on & hence are being outsourced. This is not something new & has been going on since last few years. Some make it to news, and some don't. Rest assured; this does not mean that the tech developed would be unreliable just because it's been outsourced.

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

There is always a price to pay for this which could have been a huge discount on the services provided. Happens all the time.

There have been several press releases we have made on Agreements / JV’s / partnerships with variois overseas entities. None of them entailed a discount of any kind. I dont think anyone will agree to give a discount for a press release. Bad business decision if it happens.