A Mobile Application ZF CAR CONNECT for Driver Assistance

Building a cross-platform React Native app for OPENMATICS (ZF Friedrichshafen AG) to automate fleet management, driver logbooks, and Chinese market localization.

[ Client ]

About the Client

OPENMATICS, a subsidiary of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, provides access to real-time telematics data for efficient fleet management. The client offers software, firmware, and hardware for tracking vehicles and diagnosing maintenance issues, and provides navigation and diagnostics tools for fleet operators.

Automotive
Germany
Multi-phase
Mobile Development
Cross-Platform Dev

2.5x
shorter app maintenance time: 15%
Reduction of front-end development time: 5
specialists in development team

[ Challenge ]

Fleet Transparency, Driver Trust, and a Chinese Market

Our team faced three core challenges:

Transparent work: Vehicles were used for both work and private trips, but operators had to track them manually, creating disputes between drivers and clients.

Driver support on the road: Drivers needed confidence in accurate pay calculations and access to help when vehicles experienced technical issues.

Chinese market specifics: OPENMATICS found a customer in China, but Google services don't operate there. The client needed Chinese maps, the local app market, and full data residency within China as required by law.

[ Solution ]

Building the Solution

Akveo built ZF CAR CONNECT as a cross-platform React Native application across four phases:

Phase 1 and 2

AKVEO built a cross-platform mobile application called ZF CAR CONNECT for Openmatics’s passenger car driver assistance. The application provides users on both Android and iOS devices with a digital logbook that a user can edit, link different trips into one, mark private/business trips, etc. The main functionality of the app:

Driver assistance system: Find my car & Navigate to vehicle functions;
Digital logbook: separate private and business trips;
The main vehicle driving parameters analytics;
Crash reports and requests for help;
Driver support in maintenance, dongle installation, etc.

Phase 3

Akveo conducted a business analysis and discovered that the app’s functionality for sweeper machines almost duplicates some features of the current app. This way, it’s been decided to embed this very functionality into the current app. The customer also needed to ensure that customers with sweeper machines could track the work done by drivers. Plus, they needed a solution that would assure drivers that they work in proper work conditions in the correct area, and their job would be paid in full.

The added functionality:

Area view and navigation to the area;
Sweeper equipment statuses;
UX/UI changes based on the UX audit.

Phase 4

Changed map integrations, rearchitected the backend, and updated the deployment process for Chinese market compliance and data residency requirements.

[ Results ]

Impact that Matters

ZF CAR CONNECT launched as a production-ready cross-platform app serving both European and Chinese markets, with fleet management, driver support, and regulatory compliance built in.

Transparent fleet operations

The digital logbook and trip categorization gave fleet operators full visibility into vehicle usage, eliminating manual tracking and reducing disputes between drivers and clients.

China market ready

Custom map integrations and a rearchitected backend ensured full compliance with Chinese data residency laws, allowing OPENMATICS to serve their Chinese customer on the local app market.

One extensible platform

By embedding sweeper vehicle tracking into the existing app rather than building a separate product, the team reduced development overhead and gave OPENMATICS a single extensible fleet platform.

[ Tech Stack ]