Ericsson has announced that it is building its Connected Vehicle Cloud on top of the Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform that is running on Azure cloud.

The integration is designed to allow car makers to deploy and scale global vehicle services such as fleet management, over-the-air software updates and connected safety services. Benefits are said to include easier and quicker operation, with reduced costs.

Ericsson’s Connected Vehicle Cloud already connects more than four million vehicles across 180 countries, said to be about 10% of the connected vehicle market. The platform is tailored to fit vehicle manufacturers’ growing demand for scalability and flexibility, with the capability of supporting any connected vehicle service.

It is designed to offload vehicle manufacturers' complexity of global 24/7 operations and lifecycle management related to connected vehicles with a guaranteed service-level agreement.

The Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform is designed to allow automotive companies to accelerate the delivery of safe, comfortable and personalised connected driving experiences. It combines cloud infrastructure, edge technology as well as artificial intelligence (AI) and internet of things (IoT) services with a diverse partner ecosystem.

The cloud-connected platform supports digital scenarios on top of which customer-facing solutions can be built, including in-vehicle infotainment, advanced navigation, autonomous driving, telematics and prediction services, and over-the-air updates.

“The Ericsson and Microsoft partnership will deliver a comprehensive connected vehicle platform at scale to the market,” said Åsa Tamsons, senior vice-president and head of business area technologies and new businesses at Ericsson. “Our integrated solutions will help automotive manufacturers accelerate their global connected vehicle solutions and offer a better experience for drivers and passengers.”

Peggy Johnson, executive vice-president, business development at Microsoft, added: “Together with Ericsson, we intend to simplify the development of connected vehicle services to help car makers focus on their customers’ needs and accelerate the delivery of unique, tailor-made driving experiences.”