Neil Vancans Appointed General Manager of Newly Formed Thales Navigation Professional Products Business Unit

Business Wire, July 9, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

New Thales Navigation Executive Brings Stellar Track Record of

Dramatic Company Performance Enhancement

Thales (Tal-less) Navigation, a leading global provider of GPS solutions including its Magellan consumer and Ashtech professional product lines, has appointed Neil Vancans as General Manager of its newly formed Professional Products Strategic Business Unit.

As General Manager, Vancans' responsibilities include defining the business strategy, as well as leading the sales, marketing and engineering efforts of the strategic business unit. Vancans has a proven track record of enhancing company performance through marketing initiatives and business re-engineering programs.

Vancans most recently served at Leica both as member of the management board, responsible for Leica's business areas, and as president of Leica Geosystems GPS Business Area. Leica's GPS business grew from $30 million to $90 million under his leadership. The strategic growth of GPS was a major contributor to Leica's highly successful IPO in July 2000.

As a native of the U.K. who has lived in the U.S. for six years, Vancans brings a unique and worldwide perspective of the professional GPS business. His experience in leading multi-cultural teams in diverse locations across two continents also made Vancans the perfect choice for Thales Navigation, which has 15 locations across nine countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

"In order to better meet the needs of our customers and the demands of this rapidly changing industry, we have created two strategic business units that focus wholly on our professional business and on our consumer business," said Dean Senner, president and CEO of Thales Navigation. "We are thrilled to welcome Neil to our management team. The experience he brings in driving all aspects of a professional GPS business will be instrumental as we continue to reach our goals of growth, leadership, and innovation in the GPS industry."

"Thales Navigation offers an exceptional opportunity among GPS companies and as a platform for growth within the geospatial community," said Vancans. "Not only is it operating in a market segment with an expected 30 percent growth over the next couple of years, but it continues to lead in technology innovation, is the only GPS company that can leverage its R&D against both consumer and professional businesses, and it brings the strength of Thales to every new pursuit. I look forward to working with this management team to maximize the great potential before us."

Vancans holds a Postgraduate Diploma from University College London and also holds a B.Sc. in Geography from Plymouth Polytechnic.

About Thales Navigation

Thales Navigation is one of the world's leading developers and manufacturers of positioning, navigation, and guidance equipment with operations throughout the U.S. and Europe. Thales Navigation markets its Magellan brand GPS products in the consumer electronics, recreation, and automotive markets, and its Ashtech GPS and GNSS professional solutions in the survey, GIS/Mapping, and OEM markets. Through its joint venture with Hertz, Thales Navigation has developed the Hertz NeverLost(R) vehicle navigation system. Thales Navigation's key innovations include the first U.S. commercial hand-held GPS receiver for positioning and navigation, and the first handheld GPS with industry standard Secure Digital Memory Card capabilities.

Thales Navigation, headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with European headquarters in Carquefou, France, is a subsidiary of Thales, a leading professional electronics company headquartered in Paris, France, with activities in aerospace, defense and information technology and services. For more information, visit www.thalesnavigation.com.

Magellan and Ashtech are registered trademarks of Thales Navigation.

Editor's Note: An image of Neil Vancans is available from ahiggins@thalesnavigation.com.