Nissan and NTT DoCoMo Group to Propose Wireless Services for Lease Cars
Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 05, 2002 - (JCN Newswire) - Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., and NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that they have jointly established the Business Telematics Working Committee, a cross-industry group that will develop business models incorporating mobile multimedia systems and telematics services mainly targeting the car leasing companies. The two companies will jointly manage the committee, which will begin its work in January 2003. Since the joint announcement on February 19, 2002, Nissan and DoCoMo have been studying opportunities to develop telematics systems services that would combine on-board devices with third-generation or conventional Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) mobile communications technologies for vehicle-based information services. The main task of the committee is to decide what kinds of information would be most suitable and how they should be transmitted. In January 2003, the committee will begin devising transmission tests, and it expects to propose specific telematics services around April. Commercial services are planned to be introduced sometime later in 2003 or within 2004 at the latest. Under the envisaged system, leased cars would be equipped with a mobile communications device to transmit information between the cars and service providers via Nissan's "CARWINGS" Center server. The system would network the vehicles with not only car leasing companies but also insurance, maintenance, security and other related companies as well as content providers and more. Possible business models include the provision of driver/passenger information such as navigation, traffic, weather and restaurants/hotels, as well as business-related information such as vehicle performance conditions and maintenance data. Some of these information services are already available with Nissan's "CARWINGS" mobile communications service and would be adapted for the auto leasing industry. The working committee will comprise companies from the car leasing, insurance, maintenance, components and other automobile-related industries. Specific members will include service providers such as SOHGO SECURITY SERVICES CO., LTD., TSUBASA SYSTEM CO., LTD., Nihon Unisys, Ltd. and car leasing companies such as NTT AUTO LEASING CO., LTD., Sumisho Auto Leasing Corporation, SMBC AUTO LEASING COMPANY LIMITED and NISSAN FINANCIAL SERVICES CO., LTD. The administrative office of the committee will be located within and managed by NTT DoCoMo. About Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. was established in 1933 to manufacture and market the Datsun, a small passenger car, and related automotive components. The company is Japan's second largest automobile manufacturer and the world's fifth, with annual global sales of 2,415,433 vehicles. The company markets a wide range of passenger cars, commercial vans, trucks and buses, parts and components in over one hundred and seventy countries. The company has also expanded its operations to include forklifts, textile machinery and other industrial machinery and equipment. Nissan's affiliation with French automaker Renault in 1999 has helped produce Nissan's best results in a decade. The company has three hundred and forty two consolidated subsidiaries worldwide. Consolidated sales in FY 2000 exceeded $49 billion dollars (Euro 55 billion.)For further information, please visit the Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. home page at: www.nissan.co.jp/ <http://www.nissan.co.jp/> About NTT DoCoMo NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company with more than 44 million customers. The company provides a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services. These include i-mode, the world's most popular mobile internet service, which provides e-mail and Internet access to over 35 million subscribers, and FOMA(R), launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA. In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in Europe and North and South America, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North and South America. NTT DoCoMo is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM), and New York (DCM) stock exchanges.For further information, please visit the NTT DoCoMo home page at: www.nttdocomo.com/top.shtml <http://www.nttdocomo.com/top.shtml>