Chinese search engine company Baidu Inc. and the German luxury car maker BMW have signed an agreement to jointly develop and operate technical products related to in-car information system search services.

The cooperation between Baidu and BMW attempts to expand the Internet services to the vehicle platforms to allow more car owners to enjoy the convenient Internet and search engine services at anytime, anywhere. Statistics show that China will have 80 million private cars in 2011. With the development of the navigation system and in-car media, cars will become the new platform for Internet applications.

Zhang Dongchen, a representative from Baidu, told local media that Baidu's mission is to help people gain information equally and conveniently.

The cooperation with BMW is another move for Baidu to expand into the non-traditional Internet areas and to develop the emerging Internet of Things device market. Over recent years, Baidu has been committed to expanding its search services to various new terminals by the continuous innovation of technologies. Prior to this, the Chinese search engine company formed a partnership with Huashu Media to provide Huashu's users in over 100 cities with quality, convenient, and accurate TV search services.