BMW CEO puts digital trends at center of strategy review

FRANKFURT - BMW's new Chief Executive Harald Krueger plans to overhaul the carmaker's strategy to make it fit for the digital future of driving, he said on Tuesday. BMW teamed up with Germany's other two premium carmakers to buy Nokia's high-definition mapping business for 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) this week to protect its access to key technology for connected and self-driving cars. Krueger, who took over in May, said the strategy the company adopted in 2007 that was designed to guide it until 2020 needed to be updated. He was speaking to analysts on a call to discuss second-quarter results. "Many trends have intensified or accelerated dramatically. Above all, digitization and the associated technical possibilities are set to change the automobile and its fundamental role in our society," he said. "Based on this, we are currently conducting a comprehensive update of our strategy. At this stage it is still too early to go into further detail." BMW has been exploring cooperation with US consumer technology giant Apple. Last year, BMW's top brass took part in closed-door meetings with senior Apple managers to discuss vehicle manufacturing. - REUTERS