Tata Motors today announced its partnership with the innovative location technology provider, what3words. Tata Motors is the first manufacturer in India to bring what3words addressing system in its cars – in the new Nexon launching today.
In a first for the Indian automotive industry, the partnership with Tata Motors and what3words will enable car-drivers to enter a what3words address by voice or text input, and then navigate to the accurate address within 3 meters of the destination location. This is especially relevant in the Indian context, where addresses are non-standard and complex network of roads make it difficult for last-mile navigation. This accurate & unique 3 word-addressing system will make the last-mile navigation simple, safe, hassle-free and less time-consuming for the Indian customers. The what3words App is available in 40 languages, including 8 Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, Kannada and Malayalam.
Tata Nexon owners who have downloaded the ConnectNext app and connected their smartphone will be able to enter a what3words address by voice or text into their car’s head unit. They will also be able to type a what3words address into the ConnectNext app. At launch, the feature will be available in English with South Asian languages to follow. Once the driver’s navigation app of choice has been pre-downloaded, the what3words integration will work entirely offline – a global first for an embedded infotainment system. Additionally, if a driver receives a message that includes a what3words address, this can be automatically recognized and navigated to by the Nexon’s infotainment system.
Commenting on this partnership, Mr. Mayank Pareek, President – Passenger Vehicle Business Unit (PVBU), Tata Motors said, “Tata Motors is proud to be the first automaker in India to collaborate with what3words. With this collaboration, our customers will now be able to navigate to accurate 3-word addresses represented by what3words; offering a clear solution to a very visible problem related to the non-standard traditional address system. The three-word addressing will not only provide a more seamless navigation experience but will also increase efficiency with drivers not spending a lot of time locating their destinations and reaching the precise location (within 3m of space) with minimum hassle and effort. Globally, the what3words technology comes as a unique offering only in the premium car models, but customers can expect this groundbreaking technology to feature in our mainstream line-up of products very soon.”
What3words CEO and co-founder, Chris Sheldrick said, “Our partnership with Tata Motors will begin to change this, as together, our impact will expand across humanitarian, travel, e-commerce – and of course automobile industries. This will also be a breakthrough for the tourism industry as it will make travelling very convenient for incoming tourists.’’
The varying regional address formats across the country, its often unnamed streets and localities coupled with more often than not buildings with no numbers, further compound this problem. To solve this real-world issue, what3words has taken the entire world, divided it into 3mx3m squares, and assigned each square a unique identifier – made of three random words. For example, Gateway of India can be found at ///holiday.surprises.design.
With the what3words technology, a what3words address can simply be entered into the car navigation system, manually or via speech recognition. To prevent errors, every what3words address is unique, and similar addresses are located far apart to avoid confusion. Additionally, the intelligent AutoSuggest feature helps drivers to spot and correct their mistakes immediately and effortlessly redirects them to the accurate address.
The new Nexon will be available in 1.2L Revotron turbocharged petrol BSVI engine and 1.5L Revotorq turbocharged diesel BSVI engine and will command a starting price of INR 6.95 lakhs and INR 8.45 lakhs respectively. Staying on course, the Nexon 2020 has been developed to take the drive experience to NEX LEVEL with best-in-class safety features and will be the first car from Tata Motors to feature the ‘iRA Tech’ – the new connected car technology, which has been designed specifically for India and caters to its unique driving conditions. ‘iRA Tech’ consists of technologies such as What3Words, Connected Safety, Natural Voice system and the Tribes app. The Nexon 2020 will be offered in 6-speed manual and AMT options.
The latest version of what3words will be available in the New Tata Nexon. Customers will be able to download the what3words application for free via iOS and Android platforms. The easy adoption is what has made what3words a popular tool for businesses around the world and has helped them improve their customer experience and enhance efficiency, while reducing expenses and environmental impact.
