Tata cars, SUVs to get more user-friendly navigation systems

Tata Motors is the first manufacturer to bring what3word’s tech to India, which enables drivers to use a unique three-word address to search for locations on the car’s navigation system.

Published On Sep 17, 2019 03:42:00 PM

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Tata cars, SUVs to get more user-friendly navigation systems

Tata Motors today announced its partnership with the innovative location technology provider, what3words. With this, Tata Motors will be the first manufacturer in India to bring the what3words addressing system in its cars.

In a first for the Indian automotive industry, the partnership between Tata Motors and what3words will enable car drivers to enter a three-word address by voice or text input, and then navigate to the accurate address within three metres 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 and unique three-word addressing system will make last-mile navigation simple, safe, hassle-free and less time-consuming for the Indian customers. The what3words system is available in 36 languages, including five from India – Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi.

Commenting on this partnership, 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 three-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 three metres of space) with minimum hassle and effort. Globally, the what3words technology comes as a unique offering only in premium car models, but customers can expect this groundbreaking technology to feature in our mainstream line-up of products very soon.”

“India has a rapidly growing economy, but like many other countries, it still suffers from the big three infrastructural challenges – the unbanked, the unconnected and the unaddressed,” said Chris Sheldrick, what3words CEO and co-founder. “Our partnership with Tata Motors will begin to change this, as together, our impact will expand across humanitarian, travel, e-commerce and of course the automobile industries. This will also be a breakthrough for the tourism industry as it will make travelling very convenient for incoming tourists.’’

How the what3words tech works

With the increase in the usage and ownership of smartphone devices across the country and India’s rapid growing economy, the need for a sophisticated location technology has never been more pronounced. 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 says it has taken the entire world, divided it into 3mx3m squares, and assigned each square a unique identifier – made of three random words.

With the what3words technology, a three-word address can simply be entered into the car navigation system, manually or via speech recognition. To prevent errors, every three-word 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 latest version of what3words will be available in upcoming products by Tata Motors. Customers will be able to download the what3words app for free via iOS and Android platforms.

The free what3words app and the online map enable people to find, share and navigate to three-word addresses in 36 languages, to date. A three-word address in one language can be switched instantly into any other supported language, and even looked up in one language and shared in another. what3words can be easily integrated by businesses, governments and NGOs into apps, platforms or websites, with just a few lines of code, and products are available for free or for a nominal fee for qualifying NGOs.

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