A picture taken on October 13, 2017 in Toulouse shows TomTom mapping and camera car charting the streets.Pascal Pavani / AFP via Getty Once a household name for its satellite navigation for cars, TomTom has taken a back seat in recent years as smartphones, loaded with apps like Google Maps, surged in popularity.Now the Dutch digital mapping company is betting that your car needs directions more than you do. Over the past few years, TomTom has been building high-definition or dynamic maps for self-driving cars.Its a decision that could help it challenge tech platforms, like Alphabet Inc.s Google, as cars are increasingly sold with more autonomous capabilities.We used to make maps for humans, but now we make maps for robots, Alain De Taeye, member of TomToms management board, said at a journalist briefing in Amsterdam.In 2008, TomTom reported sales of more than 12 million personal navigation devices, its record high. By 2011, it announced a restructuring program that included forced lay-offs to counter lower sales. TomTom now finds itself with several deep-pocketed rivals battling for the future of car navigation, including Apple, Google and HERE Technologies, the digital mapping company controlled by BMW and other German car makers.In a blow for TomTom, longtime partner Renault and associates Nissan and Mitsubishi last year signed on with Googles Android operating system to supply standard-definition maps.On a quest to claw its way back, TomTom is ditching unwanted business lines, like the Telematics fleet-management business, and doubling down on HD maps. TomTom says its been able to differentiate itself from competitors on HD maps by being independent and not having an advertising-based business model like Googles.In addition to sensors and other features, HD maps are an important part of autonomous driving, which can incorporate different levels of human assistance from very little to none whatsoever in even the harshest weather conditions. HD maps, stored on a cars computer system, replicate every lane, guard-rail, road edge and pole that a vehicle sees, helping cars locate their positions within centimeters. Those features are critical to avoid crashing into nearby cars, but they also help the car discern which traffic light at a busy cross-section it should obey, or identify a speed sign hidden by a truck.So far, TomTom has publicly announced HD partnerships with Baidu Inc. on its Apollo driverless project, and with Renault on the carmakers SYMBIOZ autonomous driving program. It announced in March it had won multiple deals to provide HD maps to major carmakers, but declined to say which ones. Those contracts typically last more than 10 years because of ongoing service needs.TomTom collects traffic and road data on more than 67 million kilometers around the world using 600 million different devices including its mobile mapping cars, sat navs, and mobile phones. Of those roads, TomTom has so far covered only 400,000 kilometers in HD. Its HD maps are currently only available on highways in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Korea and Japan but it is working to add more side roads as the technology
Origin: TomTom maps out revamp with bet on self-driving cars