BMW To Open Tel Aviv Office To Scout For Local Tech

The BMW Group announced that it will open an office in Tel Aviv to scout for local technologies focused on autonomous and connected vehicles.

“Tel Aviv has one of the fastest growing startup scenes in the world – especially in the important future fields for us such as autonomous driving or connectivity”, said Klaus Fröhlich, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development, in a press statement.

“By establishing a presence in Tel Aviv, we will secure even faster access to the relevant trends and technologies, be it with startups or universities.”

BMW expects to launch the office in mid-2019.

The office’s team will work with local startups and tap into innovative trends and technologies while seeking collaborations with research centers and universities.

Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry Eli Cohen welcomed the development, saying: “The opening of the BMW Group Technology Office in Israel is a vote of confidence in the Israeli innovative companies and ecosystem. It is yet [more] proof that in this new era of the automotive industry, with a strong focus on innovative technologies, the state of Israel can and does play a key role.”

BMW is part of a high-profile collaboration with Mobileye, global automotive parts supplier Aptiv (formerly Delphi Automotive), and Kfar-Saba based Innoviz Technologies, which develops LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) remote sensing technology, to bring BMW autonomous vehicles to market.

BMW Group runs a number of tech offices across the world including in California, China, Japan, and South Korea.