Belgium-headquartered Wabco Holdings has acquired Bangalore-based telematics startup AssetTrackr to expand its global fleet management solutions business to India. The transaction is expected to close by the fourth quarter 2017. Details of the transaction were not revealed. Founded in 2013, AssetTrackr utilizes cloud-based fleet management software and telematics hardware, which enables fleet operators to connect vehicles, drivers, and cargo and to monitor relevant data. AssetTrackr systems capture vehicle departure and arrival times, detect unauthorized stoppages or route deviations, optimize delivery routes, minimize delays, and monitor driving behavior. With the acquisition, Wabco will link its Vehicle Tracking System (VTS), a dedicated fleet management solution for India launched in September 2015, with AssetTrackr’s portfolio. This will create products for India’s commercial vehicle OEMs and fleet operators. Vehicle tracking space In India, vehicle tracking space has players such as IoT startup Trak N Tell, which recently said that its GPS-based car tracker device is in more than 20,000 vehicles across the country. The Gurgaon-based company enables car owners and fleet owners to track their vehicles using their smartphones. Other players like MapMyIndia offers plug and play device called DriveMate that connects to cars via the OBD (on-board diagnostics) port. Reliance Jio also unveiled its ‘Jio Car Connect’ device in partnership with US-based AirWire. Automobile manufacturing companies like Honda and Mahindra had earlier unveiled their own ‘Connected Cars’ platform for vehicle tracking, engine health monitoring, and trip details. However, these devices will work only with the manufacturer’s vehicles. Other players in the segment are…
