What's all this about?
Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz may be rivals when chasing customers but they have joined forces in pursuit of Nokia's mapping unit HERE. The car companies are working together to compete with bids from wealthy technology firms such as Uber.
So, what's HERE?
HERE is a high-definition mapping unit, which is of interest to the automotive sector because of the potential benefits in delivering autonomous driving and connected car services. It provides a premium service that offers features not found in rivals such as Google maps. By linking to a mobile phone signal HERE can tell which side of the road a person is waiting on and route the navigation system accordingly. For self-driving cars it could, in theory, work with real time traffic information to either take the fastest route or take a longer route and allow the vehicle occupants to catch up on work.
Nokia acquired HERE in 2007 and is now looking to sell off the service to concentrate on the telecoms business. Investment banking advisory firm Evercore has been retained to test the market for buyers and solicit bids.
Who is interested and what might they pay?
Sources close to the deal suggest the car companies could pay around €700 million each (about £501 million) to match HERE's book value. According to the New York Times, taxi service Uber has put in a bid worth €2.7 billion.
The automotive firms are interested because they represent HERE's largest customers; a successful bid from a rival could result in a loss of access to the service.
Daimler's Chief Financial Officer, Bodo Uebber, told German daily Handelsblatt in comments published on Friday: "We are watching the situation closely. High-definition maps are a prerequisite for autonomous driving."
John Lambert - 12 May 2015