Software expertise has become the new battleground for upscale automakers as the latest premium cars compete on high-tech innovations rather than sheer power or luxury, something that requires millions of lines of code. Mercedes has been hiring staff in Sunnyvale, Calif., -- not far from the headquarters of Internet leaders Alphabet and Yahoo -- while rival Audi, the premium brand owned by Volkswagen, said it plans to add software engineers.
Most notably, BMW has created a 200-strong digital innovation hub in Chicago, hiring software engineers who worked for mobile phone pioneer Nokia, as the German carmaker seeks to get ahead in the area of assistance systems and software applications.
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