The Volkswagen Group is acquiring a majority stake in the Swedish telematics specialist WirelessCar from Volvo as part of its plans to increase fleet connectivity.
WirelessCar was founded in 1999 and has been a wholly-owned subsidiary by Volvo since 2007 and is described as a leading specialist in vehicle connectivity, developing concierge and billing services such as tolls as well as safety and emergency services including remote diagnostics.
VW says it’s using WirelessCar’s connectivity technology to “drive the development of the digital ecosystem”, where the Volkswagen brand is spearheading development for the Group in cooperation with technology partners. It explains that its goal is to provide full connectivity in future vehicle generations and develop value-added services for customers that they can access via the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud.
The Volkswagen Group is acquiring a 75.1 percent stake in WirelessCar. Completion is expected in the first half of 2019 and is subject to approval from antitrust authorities.
