Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz cars fitted with on-board sensors are to share information in real time about on-street parking spaces and roadworks via a digital map service.

They will also gather data on traffic conditions, hazards and road signs.

The service by mapping firm Here, owned by a group of German car makers, will roll out next year.

The platform will record vehicle speed, location and direction, as well as sharp braking and fog light activation.

Video footage of road hazards will also be captured by a forward-facing camera on the cars.

Other brands will join the service at a later date, the firm said.

Owners of cars which incorporate Here's Open Location Platform will not have to do anything to transmit or receive data.

Community mapping service Waze, owned by Google, already crowdsources data in this way but users must be logged in via their smartphones.

Read more at BBC.