The BMW Group has been collaborating with Israeli firms from various technology fields for a number of years now. The company has now announced that it will open an office for trend and technology scouting in Israel. The BMW Group Technology Office in Tel Aviv is due to open in Israel’s technology hotspot midway through 2019.

“Tel Aviv has one of the fastest growing start-up 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. “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.”

The small, agile team consisting of experts from various disciplines will network intensively with local startups, evaluate and drive forward relevant trends, technologies and innovations. The full spectrum of technology enterprises based in Israel will be considered and the team will also seek to set up joint research projects with universities.

In response to the announcement, the Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry, Eli Cohen, said: “The mobility and smart transportation sector is one of the fastest growing in the world. The opening of the BMW Group Technology Office in Israel is a vote of confidence in the Israeli innovative companies and ecosystem.”

Cohen added, “It is yet another proof that in this new era of the automotive industry, with the strong focus on innovative technologies, the state of Israel can and does play a key role."

In addition to the existing Technology Offices in the USA, China, Japan and South Korea, the Technology Office in Tel Aviv will be the fifth of its kind within the global R&D network of the BMW Group.

The company already today operates more than 20 R&D facilities in eight countries, which working closely with the central development departments in Munich. Each individual location is instrumental in securing early access to trends and technologies in order to be able to shape future mobility.