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Mobile phone company Nokia is selling its automotive business. The line-fit division works with OEMs to develop factory-installed multimedia elements such as music, navigation, telephony and voice recognition.

Nokia started working in the automotive industry in the 1990s but the telecommunications giant no longer sees it as a core business and wants to reduce costs.

German company Novero, set up by former Nokia man Razvan Olosu, is buying the business as a going concern. He plans to strengthen the business in its main markets, Germany and the United States.

Olosu said: “The markets are determined by the geographical footprint of our customer’s car exports. But we’ll further develop handset integration, multimedia device integration and communication in the car.”

Nokia has worked with OEMs such as Land Rover and Volkswagen to integrate Bluetooth and handsfree devices into vehicles.

The deal will safeguard 240 jobs in Bochum, Düsseldorf and Detroit and should finalise by the end of June.