Amazon has been reportedly in talks with a consortium of German carmakers about taking a stake in digital mapping company HERE, Reuters reported on Thursday. Last August, BMW, Audi and Mercedes agreed to pay 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) to buy Nokia's mapping business as part of plans to develop self-driving cars.

Since then, the consortium has started negotiations with potential new partners mainly from the automotive industry.

Now, it seems that Amazon has emerged as a possible shareholder.

The consortium needs the capacity of cloud computing to ensure that maps can cope with live updates on traffic and road conditions using data collected from sensors on thousands of Mercedes, BMW and Audi cars.

Amazon could take advantage HERE's accurate and real-time maps as the company is rolling out new one- and two-hour delivery services in major cities in the United States and Europe.

Amazon did not respond to requests to comment.