By Acquiring Splitting Fares, Bosch Enters the Market for Connected Transportation Services

The German automotive parts manufacturer Robert Bosch established a new department on Wednesday to expand into the market for transportation services and connected vehicles, and as part of this business focus shift, they acquired the small innovative American company Splitting Fares.

Splitting Fares was founded in 2015 and created an application to connect people commuting to work or school along the same route. Initially, they attracted investments from Verizon, Wells Fargo, and Fontinalis Partners, whose co-owner is Ford Motor CEO Bill Ford.

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They are now expected to become an integral part of Bosch’s new department, Solutions for Connected Mobility, which, according to the announcement from the world’s largest automotive parts supplier, will focus on vehicle and transportation sharing and connectivity-based services aimed at drivers.

The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.

Bosch’s new department will also encompass COUP, which rents e-scooters in Berlin and Paris, as well as Bosch’s new system of connected electrified transmission components, System!e.

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– Connectivity opens up the possibility for us to rethink not only cars but the entire use of transportation means, explains Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner.

By expanding into transportation sharing services, Bosch will compete with its clients in the automotive parts segment, such as Uber and Didi, which are also developing autonomous vehicle projects.

In early February, Bosch announced that it would begin testing autonomous vehicles developed in collaboration with Daimler.