Growth in Navigation Systems Growing Beyond Luxury Segment

Autoparts Report,  Nov 5, 2002  

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While navigation systems entered the automotive original equipment market through the luxury segment, vehicle manufacturers are migrating the systems to a wide variety of vehicle segments, according to research completed by CSM Worldwide. Segments such as sport utility vehicles and minivans will be the primary drivers of growth, nearly doubling the number of systems on the market between 2002 and 2007 resulting in a $4 billion per year industry, CSM said.

The rank order in unit market share for suppliers to the current combined North American and European market is: 1. Siemens VDO 2. Harman/Becker 3. Bosch 4. Alpine 5. Visteon, according to CSM.

CSM research also determined that feature consolidation will become a major trend in navigation system design. "While the majority of today's navigation systems currently have stand-alone displays, there is a movement toward integrated Audio/HVAC/Navigation System head units," said Don Montroy, market analyst with CSM. "These integrated systems are less expensive than stand-alone displays, allowing navigation systems to reach vehicles other than the traditional luxury segment."

COPYRIGHT 2002 Ron DeMarines
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning