Garmin Würzburg

Garmin Würzburg GmbH
legal form	GmbH
founding	1991
Seat	Wurzburg , Germany
management	Johannes Angenvoort; Michael Wiegers; Clifton Pemble; Andrew Etkind;
Number of employees	> 11,400 (2017)
sales	33.5 million euros (2015)
Branch	navigation system
Website	www.navigon.com

The Navigon GmbH is a manufacturer of navigation systems , which in 1991 in Germany under the name Navigon was founded. The company is based in Würzburg and has 49 international locations. There are distribution partners in South Africa , Turkey , Australia , India , Brazil , Russia and the United Arab Emirates . The map material comes from Here Maps (formerly Navteq) .

Corporate structure

Navigon NVG7100

Navigon GmbH with agencies in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia is divided into the following business areas:

software

Navigon has made a name for itself in the industry with the award-winning MobileNavigator software for PDA , cell phones , smartphones and standalone navigation devices ( Personal Navigation Assistant ). In addition to working with OEM partners, Navigon has also been offering its own GPS navigation devices since 2007 .

Automotive

Together with industry, such as B. Seat , Continental or BMW , Navigon develops individual software components for built-in navigation devices in the field of automobile navigation for the first-time, accessory and retrofit market.

history

Navigon AG has dedicated itself to the field of mobile navigation since it was founded. Navigon is considered the inventor of dynamic GPS navigation, a pioneer for mobile pocket PC navigation systems and the first provider of mobile navigation solutions including dynamic traffic jam avoidance using the Traffic Message Channel (TMC).

In 1991 the Society for Digital Cartography CIS GmbH was founded in Würzburg . In 1996 she developed the first dynamic GPS navigation "Autopilot", later "AutoPilot 2000". In 1998 the company was renamed Navigon, and GPS Gear GmbH was integrated in the same year. The first mobile navigation system for Pocket PC ("P1") was presented in 2000. The market launch of the first mobile onboard navigation with traffic jam detection via TMC followed in 2002.

Takeover of Navigon

On June 14, 2011, Garmin announced its intention to acquire Navigon AG. The acquisition was completed on July 26, 2011. With effect from October 31, 2011, Navigon AG was converted into the legal form of a GmbH. The name change to Garmin Würzburg GmbH is intended to emphasize the connection to the parent company. The products will continue to be sold under the Navigon brand.

Navigon Inc. was founded in Chicago , USA in 2003 and introduced the offboard navigation for mobile phones and the development platform for map-based systems MEDAS, now MapSensor, in 2003. The mobile phone calls up the relevant route information from a central server. One year later, the "MobileNavigator 4", the first upgradeable system that can be given instructions by voice command, and the first software that enables smartphones to plan routes independently (onboard navigation) came onto the market. This mobile onboard navigation was the first to calculate the correct route all over Europe down to the house number range. In 2004, company-specific navigation solutions with interfaces to route planning and CRM systems were also developed. In addition, the branches opened in Benelux, England, France, Italy, Scandinavia and Spain.

In 2005 Navigon GmbH became Navigon AG. General Atlantic took over 24.9 percent of the company. The strategic partnership with Truck24 began a year later. Navigon also introduced the Navigon Right product family for professional use in 2006 . The US subsidiary Navigon Inc. took over the vehicle navigation division of the map manufacturer Navteq and the Automotive business unit in Chicago was founded.

The company took the step into the hardware area in 2007 with the introduction of the self-developed device series Navigon 5100, 7100 and 2100, the first navigation system with a TMC receiver and Reality View integrated in the charging cable. In the same year a cooperation with Samsung in the area of smartphone navigation was started, the following year the cooperation with Via Michelin on the French market came about. The year 2008 was marked by the launch of several products, namely the MN7 software, the Max series (2110 max) and the FreshMaps platform. After entering the Russian and Greek markets for navigation, Navigon AG employed over 400 people worldwide in 2008. After liquidity problems, General Atlantic increased its stake from 29.5% to now 90%. The CEO and previous majority owner Peter Scheufen remains in possession of 10% of the shares. The new board consisted of Egon Minar (CEO), Peter Mauritz (CFO) and Robert Butz (CTO).

In 2009 Navigon AG started a strategic partnership with T-Mobile Deutschland in the area of smartphone navigation and mobile live services. The first version of the MobileNavigator for the Apple iPhone 3G (S) in the App Store was published in 23 versions, and the live services for the products 6350 and 8450 were launched. The management of the company changed again in 2009, with Egon Minar becoming the new director (CEO) (Chairman of the Board of Management) and Wend von Wietersheim (CFO), Chairman of the Supervisory Board, became Klaus Esser . In 2010 the "Navigon select Telekom Edition" was launched, a free basic version of MobileNavigator for various telephones for Telekom customers. In addition, new live services were published. In 2010 Navigon presented the new naming concept in which the 40s and 70s series were clustered Easy, Plus and Premium. The 1940s and 70s models were released.

In 2011, the company started a cooperation with GPSoverIP GmbH to develop a GPS-based fleet management solution . In the same year Navigon AG was acquired by Garmin Ltd. taken over and converted into Navigon GmbH and later renamed Garmin Würzburg GmbH. In addition, this year Flinc , an app for spontaneous ridesharing , was integrated into the Navigon app for smartphones .

At present, Navigon no longer offers navigation devices, only apps for mobile phones.

In 2017, the portfolio of navigation apps for smartphones was expanded to include the “Navigon Cruiser” motorcycle navigation system. The app is available for both iPhones and Android smartphones and offers motorcyclists a route that has been specially optimized for them. In addition, the most important controls have been optimized for use with motorcycle gloves. The app contains maps for Europe, North America, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

In 2018, the company announced that it would discontinue all smartphone apps.