ZF and Bosch expand their mobility services

22 March 2019

With mobility a key market for automotive companies, two suppliers have announced their plans to further increase their participation in the sector

ZF has said it has acquired a majority stake in European Mobility provider 2getthere. The German technology supplier has taken a 60% share of the business.

2getthere is a well-established mobility provider. The Dutch company can trace its roots back to 1984 and supplies driverless passenger and cargo transportation operations in cities, ports, business parks and airports.

The investment complements ZF’s partnerships and investments such as e.Go Moove, a joint venture of ZF and German start-up electric vehicle maker e.Go Mobile, and Transdev, a mobility provider in France.

′2getthere has more than three decades of experience in the market for autonomous passenger transport vehicles as well as unique engineering and software competencies. This acquisition supports our strategy to become a leading autonomous transportation systems supplier in the booming new mobility market,’ said Wolf-Henning Scheider, chairman of the Board of Management at ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

′The market for driverless electric transport systems is developing dynamically. We want to continue to lead the market, and the involvement of ZF is helping us to realise our growth plans, accelerate our technology roadmap and provide the required security for new and existing customers,’ added Carel C. van Helsdingen, founder and CEO of 2getthere.

Bosch London

Bosch has announced it is to open a new mobility office in London. The company says the Shoreditch location is open to partners from the public, private and academic sectors.

The German vehicle supplier has collaborated with Nitrous, a platform facilitating projects between the private sector, start-ups and government, to open its Connectory office. The first partner to sign up is Transport for London (TfL), which has begun an 18-month collaboration with Bosch to explore how the goals set out in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy can be addressed.

In a statement, the company comments that London’s population keeps growing, with the latest forecasts predicting it will reach 10.8 million inhabitants by 2041. ′To keep a capital this size moving is challenging and will require smart thinking – and modern technology,’ it says. ′Researchers expect the number of daily trips to rise by a staggering six million in the future.’

Bosch says it believes that the key to overcoming some of these challenges lies in the development of automated, electrified, connected, and personalised mobility.

′Cities cannot meet the challenges created by urbanisation alone, and such partnerships will play an increasingly important role in developing innovative solutions that are commercially and environmentally sustainable,’ said Arun Srinivasan, executive vice president of Bosch Mobility Solutions UK.

London’s Chief Digital Officer, Theo Blackwell, added, ′London’s longstanding leadership in transport and city-wide open data creates the perfect platform for new collaborations with the tech sector. We want to do even more to utilise data and smart technology to meet the needs of our citizens. To do this we need to be bold and think big, and this involves being willing to try new ways of doing things. I’m confident that Connectory will be an important part of London’s future as a global test-bed for civic innovation, where the best ideas are developed and scaled.’