Bridgestone Europe buys TomTom Telematics in €910m mobility deal

The telematics business of data provider TomTom is to be snapped up by the European arm of Bridgestone in a €910m cash deal. Part of the Bridgestone Corporation tyre empire, Bridgestone Europe says the deal will speed up its “journey to becoming a mobility solutions leader in the region”. Bridgestone is making fleet solutions a “strategic priority”. In a statement, the company said: “New social, economic and technological megatrends are pushing the pace of change in the automotive industry and the fut
February 1, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
The telematics business of data provider 1692 TomTom is to be snapped up by the European arm of Bridgestone in a €910m cash deal.


Part of the Bridgestone Corporation tyre empire, Bridgestone Europe says the deal will speed up its “journey to becoming a mobility solutions leader in the region”.

Bridgestone is making fleet solutions a “strategic priority”. In a statement, the company said: “New social, economic and technological megatrends are pushing the pace of change in the automotive industry and the future of vehicles is connected, autonomous, shared and electric.”

Bridgestone has diversified from the rubber products for which it is best-known into data collection from sensors, data platforms and analytics.

It cites the “growing importance of fleets over individually-owned vehicles for transportation of people and goods” as the catalyst for the acquisition, suggesting that fleet owners require better tools to maximise productivity and minimise total cost of ownership.
Paolo Ferrari, CEO of Bridgestone EMEA, says: “We are now well-positioned in EMEA to accelerate our data-driven business, expand our fleet customer base and seize fast-growing, profitable opportunities in the automotive mobility industry.”

TomTom CEO Harold Goddijn said his company would continue to develop mapping products, “enabling faster map updates while lowering operational costs, paving the road towards autonomous driving”.

TomTom Telematics claims an installed user base of 860,000 vehicles, more than two-thirds of which are commercial. The company says it handles each day on average 800 million GPS positions, 3.3 million trips and 200 million inbound messages.

Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • January 12, 2018
    Opticom Analytics wins innovation award at EMS World Expo 2017
    EMS World Magazine has chosen Global Traffic Technologies' (GTTs') Opticom Analytics as a 2017 Innovation Award Winner at its annual World Expo in Las Vegas, based on the significant impact it can have on helping first responders traveling to an emergency. The solution provides details about preemption system performance by using GPS data collected from emergency vehicles. The system, part of the Opticom Emergency Vehicle Preemption platform, compiles data uploaded from vehicle equipment and presents the
    Read More
  • April 15, 2016
    TomTom and PSA Group participate in EU autonomous driving demonstration
    TomTom has collaborated with the French PSA Peugeot Citroen Group in an EU gathering of top politicians in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam. TomTom provided its HD Maps and RoadDNA to enable PSA Group to participate in the self-driving car demonstration in Amsterdam, where EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc and 28 EU Transport Ministers gathered under the Dutch EU presidency, to work towards eliminating regulatory and technical barriers around autonomous driving. The vehicles were used in a demo
    Read More
  • January 5, 2018
    TrafficLand partners with Weather Telematics to expand road weather data offerings
    TrafficLand has agreed with Weather Telematics to integrate and resell its proprietary all hazards and predictive weather data designed to improve mobility safety, media reporting and public agency situational awareness. The project aims to provide a complete resource for all hazard weather data affecting driver safety. Weather Telematics and TrafficLand content is available across the U.S. as well as a growing list of markets internationally. The data is available via several platforms, including API and
    Read More
  • July 17, 2014
    Q-Free acquires Open Roads Consulting
    Q-Free has signed a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the acquisition of Open Roads Consulting for a cash consideration of approximately US$6.2 million. Further consideration is dependent on future financial performance. The transaction is expected to be closed within the end of the third quarter 2014. The acquisition represents a milestone for Q-Free and is a strategically good match with other advanced traffic management systems (ATMS) and road user charging (RUC) activities within the group. It will
    Read More

Highlighted Content