BMW Group Thailand, led by Mr. Christian Wiedmann (2nd left), President, and Microsoft (Thailand) Limited, led by Mr. Dhanawat Suthumpun (far left), Managing Director, together with Mr. Lars Nielsen (far right), Sales and Marketing Director, BMW Thailand and Dr. Alexander Kotouc (3rd left), Head of Product Management BMW i, unveiled new additions to BMW ConnectedDrive for BMW iPerformance vehicles powered by Microsoft’s world-class Azure cloud computing service to enhance BMW ConnectedDrive’s leadership in premium intelligent mobility.

Bangkok. BMW Group Thailand today underlined its vision for the future of mobility with the announcement of new additions to BMW ConnectedDrive – the flexible, personalized suite of services and apps for an intelligent, connected mobility experience – for BMW iPerformance plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) at the “BMW i and 360° Electric. The Future of Connected Mobility in Collaboration with Microsoft” business forum. Powered by BMW’s Open Mobility Cloud platform and Microsoft’s world-class Azure cloud computing service, BMW ConnectedDrive continues to build upon its leadership in premium intelligent mobility with capabilities tailored to enhance the electric mobility experience with unprecedented convenience.

Mr. Christian Wiedmann, President, BMW Group Thailand, said, “This year marks the 20th anniversary of BMW ConnectedDrive, and we are ceaselessly driving forward our international standing as a pioneer in the field of digital development. Our seamless services are designed to redefine the very concept of mobility in a way that best benefits the customer. BMW Connected App currently has more than 2.3 million users and over 10 million connected BMW vehicles in 45 countries worldwide. With the launch of new features for BMW ConnectedDrive in Thailand, we are driving forward the transformation of the automotive mobility in the country in coherent with the BMW Group’s NUMBER ONE > NEXT strategy.”

With BMW ConnectedDrive for BMW iPerformance, customers can control their vehicle remotely and access important information effortlessly on the go through the BMW Connected App on iPhones. The new features include:

• Display of plug-in hybrid vehicle information: Keep track of electric range, battery charge level and service requirements of the iPerformance vehicle anywhere, anytime.
  
• Remote climate and charge control: Turn the car’s air conditioning on or off remotely – or even at your preferred departure time – from your phone. If the vehicle is plugged in, the charging time can also be scheduled through the app in order to take advantage of the off-peak charging rate.
  
• Enhanced navigation system: Quickly search for and navigate to the nearest charging station to extend your drive.
• Driving statistics: Optimize your driving patterns for maximum efficiency with a deeper look into how you control your vehicle on the road.

At the BMW i and 360° Electric business forum, Dr. Alexander Kotouc, Head of Product Management for BMW i, shared BMW Group’s vision on electric mobility innovations under the BMW i brand, which focuses on a visionary and ground-breaking concept for mobility that is sustainably designed throughout. As demand for electric vehicles around the globe has evidently increased with significant growth potential in the future, BMW Group is committed to quickly and effectively respond to market developments by creating the most flexible assembly line. From 2021 onward, vehicles with pure electric drivetrain, hybrid drivetrain and combustion engine will be assembled on the same assembly line to ensure that BMW Group remains fully capable of responding to demand for all models with every type of drivetrain in any market at any time.

By 2025, the BMW i range will encompass 25 electrified models, 12 of which fully electric, while the number of electrified models across other BMW Group brands and product lines will continue to rise at a steady pace.

With Azure, the intelligent and secure cloud platform from Microsoft, BMW ConnectedDrive is able to harness machine learning and data analysis capabilities to make use of the massive amounts of data generated by a BMW vehicle on the road. BMW’s Open Mobility Cloud platform uses Azure as a foundation for an expanding range of intelligent services and experiences that bring together not just the car and the smartphone but also partner content and integrated networked systems beyond the vehicle.

“Digital transformation and technological disruption are driving change across every industry, and every business around the world has to transform itself to gain or retain competitive advantage,” said Mr. Dhanawat Suthumpun, Managing Director of Microsoft Thailand. “In the automotive industry, we can see this in the expectation that an estimated 90% of new cars introduced worldwide in 2020 will come with advanced connectivity features, and BMW ConnectedDrive and Open Mobility Cloud are blazing a trail towards this future of intelligent mobility.”

Through Azure, Microsoft offers an open and highly scalable platform for automakers to develop intelligent features that enhance a connected vehicle’s ability to address mobility needs on an individual level while also opening up new possibilities for the transformation of the automotive industry. These intelligent features are founded on top of Azure’s status as the most trusted cloud platform – backed by over 70 international and industry-specific standards in security and privacy.

“Our partnership with BMW is bringing to life the vision of a world where intelligent capabilities live in the cloud – where astonishing amounts of computing power enable us to achieve things previously not thought possible – and the edge, where advances such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things redefine productivity and efficiency in every moment of our lives,” added Dhanawat.

The new BMW ConnectedDrive features for BMW iPerformance vehicles will be available in selected BMW plug-in hybrids from June 2018 onwards – including the BMW 330e, BMW 530e, and BMW 740Le. For more information on BMW ConnectedDrive, visit https://www.bmw.co.th/th/topics/fascination-bmw/connected-drive/overview.html.