Six European car-makers are planning a future where cars warn each other of accidents and danger spots and automatically find new routes to avoid congestion.
The manufacturers, which build half of Europe's cars, hope to produce vehicles that can communicate electronically using the WiFi wireless networking standards now becoming the norm for portable computers.
Most of the world's big car-makers have been experimenting with vehicle-to-vehicle communications for years, but the European group is thought to be the first serious attempt to develop common systems.
The group, known as the Car-2-Car Communication Consortium, is planning to produce its first prototypes within two years.
The moves reflect efforts by car-makers to move from "passive" safety - such as airbags and more crash-resistant vehicle bodies - to "active" safety, where cars help drivers avoid accidents.
BMW has demonstrated the technology, using a broken-down Mini equipped with the system to warn an approaching 7-Series of the potential danger. In the future, the system could automatically pre-tense the brakes in nearby cars, speeding the drivers' reaction times, or instruct navigation computers in more distant vehicles to find alternative routes.
Other members of the group include Volkswagen, Audi, DaimlerChrysler, Fiat and Renault.
The WiFi technology would bounce information from car to car, using relatively short-range technology to create a large network of vehicles.
However, some experts remain sceptical about how such a system would be paid for. "Technically they can do it," said Dave Benson, a senior consultant at SRI Business Intelligence in California. "But there are huge business model issues, so we're talking some years down the line."