TomTom_TRUCKER_6000a

TomTom on a TearTear

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Burney Simpson

TomTom has been on a TearTear, announcing an important deal with Volvo, expanding its HD mapping coverage, and launching an app for truckers.

The Amsterdam-based navigation and mapping firm announced it would provide location and navigation content and services to Volvo Cars starting in 2019. Regions include Europe, North America, China, Japan, Korea, Latin America and Africa.

Volvo Cars will use such TomTom products as automotive-grade digital NDS Maps, including incremental real-time map updates; the navigation software NavKit; and traffic and travel-related services.

At the TU-Automotive conference in Novi, Mich., last week TomTom announced it had expanded its mapping of the US to cover interstates in 20 states.

Its HD Map and RoadDNA are now available in:

  • Interstates in Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont;
  • Interstates and highways in California, Michigan, and Nevada;
  • Autobahn network in Germany.

In total, the HD Map and Road DNA programs now cover nearly 76,000 miles of roadways, up from the 43,000 miles announced in March.

Also in Novi, TomTom combined its HD Map and RoadDNA technology to create the Localization Demonstrator to showcase how its technology can keep a vehicle centered in its lane. (See the video below).

The Demonstrator uses Velodyne LiDAR and other autonomous-driving equipment.

Also in June but prior to TU-Automotive, TomTom released the MyDrive Route Planning program for professional drivers.

The drivers can use it to plan a multi-stop route for their truck’s specific size, weight, cargo and speed. They can also add in the fuel, rest spots, diners, and other points of interest.

Corinne Vigreux, a TomTom managing director, said in a release that MyDrive combines “truck-specific routing, with insanely accurate TomTom Traffic information” to save the driver time.

Another June announcement concerned the Welcome to Priority Driving campaign, which appears to be a PR campaign for the European market.

The firm expects to spend multi-million Euros on the campaign that will begin June 20 and run until the end of the year. It will include radio, digital treatments, YouTube offerings, a website, in-store, PR, and social campaigns.

And its not even the Ides of June yet.

This video shows the Lane Localization technology.