London, UK – Telit Wireless Solutions, a leading global vendor of M2M modules, value-added services and solutions, has announced its acquisition of the Automotive Telematics On-board unit Platform (ATOP) business from Netherlands-based NXP Semiconductors. Simultaneously, it has launched Telit Automotive Solutions, which will focus on the automotive OEM and Tier-one markets. The new organisation will be headed up by industry veteran and long-time Telit executive, Dominikus Hierl (pictured) as its CEO.
ATOP is an automotive grade solution for vehicle manufacturers to implement eCall or similar functionality from a single compact and cost efficient package, delivering reduction in complexity and minimised costs in vehicle designs, customer data as well as regulatory compliance.
The company will integrate the ATOP business, including sales, engineering and support staff into Telit Automotive Solutions, expanding its market reach with solutions leveraging the expanded engineering and sales expertise, particularly in software-centric RFIs from automotive and telematics OEMs. The company achieved automotive-critical global ISO/TS16949 certification in July 2012 and maintains one of the industry’s largest product portfolios for the automotive sector with particular emphasis on advanced technologies such as LTE and HSPA+. Telit has appointed Lars Reger, Head of Chip Development and General Manager for New Business in NXP’s automotive business division as a non-executive director of Telit on closing.
Industry analysts position automotive as the strongest growing segment for M2M over the next few years. According to the ABI Research report on the global M2M module market published in May 2013, module shipments to automotive OEMs will grow from six million units in 2013 to 30 million in 2018. Regulatory initiatives like eCall in Europe, ERA GLONASS in Russia, DENATRAN 245 in Brazil lend further credibility to the strength of the sector, along with the much publicised “connected car” trend which is likely to lead to 100% penetration of the technology in the very near future.
“This acquisition will take the ATOP technology to the next level by embedding it in a sustainable ecosystem for innovative and high-quality automotive solutions. We’re confident that our expertise will continue to grow under Telit’s leadership in combination with continued cooperation from NXP,” said Lars Reger. “NXP will stay highly involved in the future of ATOP by becoming a shareholder in Telit and joining the company’s board.”
“The acquisition of ATOP is the catalyst for building a dedicated automotive business unit to better address automotive opportunities and execute our strategy to become the market leader in this segment,” said Telit CEO Oozi Cats. “The ATOP team is talented and enthusiastic to join Telit. Their expertise will be leveraged by positioning their top managers in significant roles within the new Telit Automotive organisation.”
“Together with a significant customer base, ATOP brings additional expertise in automotive platforms to compliment our already thriving automotive business,”, said Dominikus Hierl, CEO of the new Telit Automotive Solutions. “The multi-service capable platform provides support for a range of features from its single package, including vehicle location and tracking, remote starting and diagnostics as well as business applications like fleet management.”
