Navigon

Line

• John Angenvoort
• Michael Wiegers
• Clifton Pemble
• Andrew Etkind

The Garmin Würzburg GmbH is a manufacturer of navigation systems, which was founded in 1991 in Germany under the name Navigon. The company is based Würzburg, locations there are in Cluj- Napoca and Chicago. Offices exist in Europe, Asia and North America. Distribution partners there are in South Africa, Turkey, Australia, India, Brazil, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. The map comes from the company Navteq.

On 14 June 2011, the American company Garmin announced its intention to take over the Navigon AG, to. The acquisition was completed on 26 July 2011. With effect from 31 October 2011, the Navigon AG was transferred to the legal form of a GmbH. The company recently Garmin Würzburg GmbH and is called to be served by this name change more closely to the parent company. The products are currently still being sold under the brand Navigon.

Corporate Structure

The Navigon GmbH with offices in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia is divided into the following divisions:

Mobility

With the award-winning MobileNavigator software for PDA, mobile phone, smartphone and standalone navigation devices (Personal Navigation Assistant) to Navigon has made a name in the industry. In addition to working with OEM partners Navigon offers, since 2007, self-developed GPS navigation devices.

Automotive

Together with the industry, such as Seat, Continental or BMW, Navigon develops individual software components for permanently installed navigation devices in the field of automotive navigation for the primary, accessory and aftermarket.

History

Since its inception, the Navigon AG is dedicated to the field of mobile navigation. Navigon is considered the inventor of the dynamic GPS navigation, pioneered mobile Pocket PC navigation systems and first provider of mobile navigation solutions including dynamic TMC traffic jam avoidance.

In 1991, the Society for Digital Cartography CIS GmbH was founded in Würzburg. She developed in 1996 the first dynamic GPS navigation "autopilot", later "Auto Pilot 2000 ". In 1998 the company was renamed Navigon, the same year followed by the integration of GPS Gear GmbH. The first mobile navigation system for Pocket PC " P1" was presented in 2000. Followed in 2002 by the launch of the first mobile on-board navigation with congestion detection via Traffic Message Channel ( TMC).

The Navigon Inc. started in 2003 in Chicago, USA. Navigon in 2003 was the off-board navigation for mobile phones and the development platform for card -based systems MEDAS, today MapSensor before. The phone calls here from a central server, the relevant route information from. A year later came the Mobile Navigator 4, the first piece by piece upgradeable system, which you can give instructions by voice command, and the first software that smartphones an independent route planning permits ( onboard navigation ) on the market. This mobile onboard navigation was the first up to the house number range computed Europe the right way. 2004 company-specific navigation solutions with interfaces to tour planning and CRM systems have been developed. In addition, the offices were opened in Benelux, UK, France, Italy, Scandinavia and Spain.

2005 from Navigon GmbH Navigon AG. General Atlantic took 24.9 percent of the company. A year later, the strategic partnership began with Truck24. Navigon 2006 also resulted in a product family Navigon Right for professional use. The U.S. subsidiary Navigon Inc. took over the field of car navigation of the card manufacturer Navteq and the Automotive Business Unit in Chicago was founded.

The step in the hardware area made ​​the company in 2007 with the introduction of the self-developed instrument series Navigon 5100, 7100 and 2100, the first navigation system with built- in charging cable TMC receiver and Reality View. In the same year a collaboration with Samsung mobile navigation in the area was begun in the following year, the collaboration came with Via Michelin in the French market into existence. The year 2008 was marked by the launch of several products, namely the MN7 software, max series ( 2110max ) and the Fresh Maps platform. After entry into the Russian and Greek market for navigation Navigon AG 2008 now employed over 400 people worldwide. After liquidity problems General Atlantic increased its share part of previously 29.5% to now 90%. The chief executive and former majority owner Peter Scheufen is owned by 10% of the shares. The new board consisted of Egon Minar (CEO ), Peter Mauritz (CFO ) and Robert Butz (CTO ) together.

2009 Navigon AG began a strategic partnership with T -Mobile Germany in the field of mobile navigation and mobile Live Services. The first version of the MobileNavigator for the iPhone 3G (S ) on the App Store was released in 23 variants, also followed the launch of the Live Services for the products 6350 and 8450th The management of the company moved again in 2009, new board were Egon Minar ( CEO) ( CEO) and Wend of Wietersheim (CFO ), Chairman, Klaus Esser. 2010, Navigon select Telekom Edition came on the market, a free basic version of Mobile Navigator for different phones for telecom customers. In addition, new Life Services published. Navigon in 2010 was the new naming concept before, in which the 40 and 70 series were given the clustering Easy, Plus and Premium. It was followed by the launch of the 40s and 70s models.

To develop a GPS-based fleet management solution, the company began in 2011 a cooperation with the GPSoverIP GmbH. In the same year the Navigon AG Garmin Ltd. was. taken over and converted into a Navigon GmbH. Moreover, all of this year for the integration of spontaneous ride Flinc in the Navigon app for smartphones