CNH Industrial to work with Microsoft, Accenture on 'smart' vehicles

MILAN (Reuters) - CNH Industrial has set up a five-year collaboration with Microsoft and Accenture to help it to develop "smart" and connected industrial vehicles, the Italian-American vehicle and equipment maker said on Monday.

The programme, part of CNH Industrial's digital transformation plans, is expected to help the group "achieve significant revenue growth", the maker of farm machinery, Iveco commercial vehicles, construction equipment and powertrains said in a statement.

The collaboration is mainly focused on setting up a global network of digital hubs, in Europe, the United States, Brazil and India, CNH said without providing financial details of the agreement.

In those hubs, the three companies will design, launch and manage digital services aimed at making CNH's products "smarter, more functional, secure and sustainable," the company said.

The smart vehicles will have new services and functionalities in several areas, including computer-aided farming, predictive maintenance, enhanced fleet management and green transportation, CNH said.

Andreas Weishaar, CNH's chief strategy, talent, ICT and digital officer, said the creation of digital hubs was a "pillar" of the strategy to move CNH Industrial from being a manufacturer of physical products to being able to deliver new digital and connected products and services.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari. Editing by Jane Merriman)