Google's Self-Driving Car Push Spurs Hiring Spree at Automakers

Advertisement
By Reuters | Updated: 15 September 2015 10:05 IST
Google's Self-Driving Car Push Spurs Hiring Spree at Automakers
German premium carmakers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi are snapping up software experts as tech firms such as Google threaten to outflank them in the race to develop a self-driving car.

Software expertise has become a new battleground for automakers and tech firms as cars need lines of code to connect electric car motors to batteries, talk to smartphones or activate brakes when a radar system detects an obstacle ahead.

Without beefing up their digital expertise, German automakers will struggle to offer new premium features such as autonomous driving and car-sharing services to compete with new rivals such as Google and Uber.

"What car companies are doing is hiring people generally from outside automotive. Some companies a few years ago didn't have a connected car department. They all have that now," said Malcolm Earp, chief executive at Magma People, a specialist automotive recruitment company said.

In August, BMW, Audi and Mercedes said they would pay about 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) to buy Nokia's maps business, beating out high-tech rivals for location services seen as key to the future of self-driving cars.

In September last year, Daimler bought Daimler bought mytaxi and RideScout, two smartphone applications that will help the maker of Mercedes-Benz limousines provide services to people who do not own cars.

Advertisement

In the latest example of cross-pollination between the tech and car sectors, Google named auto veteran John Krafcik, the former chief executive of Hyundai Motors America as chief of its self-driving car project.

More jobs
The tech focus for premium carmakers means that despite a general drive to cut costs and boost margins amid a slowdown in China, the world's largest car market, they are adding staff to stay in the digitisation race.

Advertisement

BMW's workforce rose 6.2 percent to 119,489 at the end of June, from 112,500 a year earlier. The Bavarian automaker said it will continue to recruit staff in 2015 to help "the advancement of new technologies, including the ever-increasing scale of digitalisation".

Advertisement

Bavarian rival Audi, the premium brand owned by Volkswagen, said its workforce had increased by 8 percent between January and June to 81,640 staff.

Audi plans to add another 6,000 staff "primarily to support the development of pioneering technologies as well as for the expansion of our international sites".

Mercedes parent company Daimler said headcount rose 1.6 percent in the first half of the year to 284,441 and overall headcount will rise this year from 2014.

The Stuttgart-based maker of luxury cars and trucks remains on the lookout for expertise in data analysis.

In June, Daimler Trucks bought telematics provider Zonar Systems Inc. to help roll out satellite-based connectivity services for fleet operators such as remote diagnostics.

"The automotive industry is facing a big disruption through connectivity and connected driving technologies. These features will become an important source of differentiation," said Andreas Tschiesner, head of McKinsey's automotive practice in Germany.

© Thomson Reuters 2015

 

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. OTT Releases This Week: Mandala Murders, Ronth, Rangeen, and More
  2. These Motorola Phones Will Get Android 16 as Their Final OS Update
  3. Realme 15 Pro 5G Launched in India Alongside Realme 15 5G: Price, Features
  4. Redmi Note 14 SE 5G to Launch in India on July 28 With These Features
  5. iQOO Z10R 5G With MediaTek Dimensity 7400 SoC Launched in India: See Price
  6. Five Reasons Why Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is Still the Ultimate Flagship in 2025 Under Rs 1 Lakh
  7. Vivo T4R 5G Key Features Revealed; to Launch in India on This Date
  8. WhatsApp Will Soon Let You Set Message Reminders, Just Like Slack
  9. Xiaomi TV Stick 4K (2nd Generation) Unveiled: Check Specifications
  1. Infinix Smart 10 Launching Today: Know Price in India, Features and Specifications
  2. NASA Engineers Rescue JunoCam with Deep-Space Heating Hack
  3. Rising Rocket Launches May Delay Ozone Layer Recovery, Study Finds
  4. New Study Reveals Mars Faced Heavy Rains: Possible Clue to Ancient Life
  5. Forza Horizon 5 Is Reportedly the Best-Selling Game on PS5 in 2025
  6. Realme Buds T200 With IP55 Rating and Up to 55 Hours Total Playback Time Launched in India
  7. Realme 15 Pro 5G Launched in India With Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 SoC; Realme 15 5G Tags Along
  8. Meta Showcases Wristband That Supports Typing, Navigation Without a Keyboard or Mouse
  9. GitHub Spark AI App Generation Tool Released, Comes With a Collaboration Mode
  10. CMF Buds 2, Buds 2 Plus Sale to Start in India on July 25: All Details
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.