The BMW Group has renewed its strategic partnership with Vodafone Passo in the field of telematics services. With its updated BMW ASSIST, BMW offers customers a service which allows the desired navigation data to be transmitted into a moving car from external sources. The contract with Vodafone, formerly Mannesmann, on the development of BMW ASSIST was signed in July 1999. The BMW Group and Vodafone Passo have now adapted the contract to the current service requirements and strategic orientation of BMW, which with the new BMW 7 Series, is aimed at being the world's first manufacturer to offer a true Internet portal in an automobile. Partnership of Technology Leaders The renewed partnership of two global players in the automotive industry and telematics offers the customer major advantages in the automotive service sector, according to BMW officials. The technological know-how and global network makes Vodafone Passo the ideal partner to keep the BMW Group in the top position in the area of navigation, information and online services and to upgrade these services over the long term, according to Dr. Burkhard Göschel, member of the Board of Management of the BMW Group. Vodafone, with its mobile telephony networks in 26 countries, is the largest cellular operator worldwide and serves 78.7 million customers around the globe. Vodafone´s global network allows BMW, with the assistance of the navigation system and car phone, to provide customers in many countries with its mobile multi-band services. Just as the cooperation with Vodafone Passo today forms the basis for the mobile telematics service BMW ASSIST, Vodafone is the BMW Group's strategic partner as a portal operator when it comes to the replacement of the current BMW 7 Series as the first Internet-capable production car. "As we started in the 1990s to network individual computers, so it is now a logical step to network automobiles to form a comprehensive mobile information network" Dr. Göschel said. From BMW ASSIST to the Mobile Internet Portal In collaboration with Vodafone Passo, the BMW Group has updated the BMW ASSIST telematics service and at the same time upgraded the product range. Automatic emergency calls in serious accidents, roadside assistance, real-time traffic information as well as mobility-related information services with more than 260,000 points of interest are now bundled in a clear and defined manner, according to Dr. Göschel. BMW with its BMW ASSIST even today offers its customers data back-loading, a process where desired navigation data, such as from fuel stations, hotels or venues, can be transmitted from an external BMW data center into the navigation system of a moving car. With BMW ASSIST, BMW also has the opportunity for entirely new and regular customer contacts, which opens up new avenues in customer relations management. With BMW ASSIST, the networking of individual mobility has already gotten under way, but according to Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, senior vice president of group marketing at BMW, the company is opening up completely new dimensions with what he calls the world's first Internet-capable production car, the new BMW 7 Series. Kalbfell is convinced that telematics and online services will in future take on the role of a virtual assistant that will relieve driving effort in any situation and, according to Kalbfell, "will increasingly allow the driver to focus on what it is all about -- the pleasure of motoring." Be it the BMW ASSIST telematics service or the automotive Internet portal - the keyword is "Connected Drive," according to Kalbfell. Connected Drive combines all BMW innovations into a comprehensive driver assist concept, and in this context stands for intelligent communication in the driver, vehicle and environment triangle. "The systems based on this principle provide the driver with information in situations where he is unable to perceive such information or not reliably enough," Kalbfell said. "Thus, the electronic assistants relieve driving effort and thereby contribute to safer, more efficient and more comfortable driving."