(Telecompaper) Germany's big-three premium-brand auto makers are preparing an acquisition bid with Baidu for a majority stake in Nokia's Here mapping unit, the Wall Street Journal reported, with sources saying the bid values the unit at "considerably more than EUR 2 billion." BMW, Audi, and Daimler's Mercedes-Benz want to band together in order to prevent a company such as Google, Apple or Facebook from gaining control of a key part of the technology needed to run self-driving cars and in-car digital services, the sources said."The greatest threat to the automobile industry would be if Google developed an operating system for self-driving cars and made it available free to everyone," the source said. Talks have reached an advanced stage and are likely to conclude within the next two weeks. Although there are still no specific details such as price and the distribution of specific stakes, the German car makers are aiming to acquire a controlling majority. Baidu and an undisclosed financial investor in the group would acquire minority stakes. Nokia would retain a minority stake. Separately, Audi is expected to announce a "far-reaching cooperation" with China's Baidu at the China CES consumer electronics show in Shanghai later this month, the person said.