Garmin Ltd. and Navigon AG just announced that the two companies have reached an agreement and a subsidiary of Garmin will acquire the privately-held navigation company. The financial terms of the transaction was not released.
German-based Navigon pulled out of the North American PND market in 2009 and has since focused on the European region and smartphone apps. It’s likely that these two areas of investment were key to Garmin’s interest. We reviewed Navigon’s last US-centric GPS units in 2009 and while they were competent, failed to eclipse Garmin’s or TomTom’s models in anyway.
Navigon is also a major player in the automotive OEM field, which might lead to big things for Garmin and consumers. Right now most baked-in GPS solutions aren’t exactly impressive and could a dash of Garmin charm would go a long way.
Going forward, Navigon will operate as a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd pending the acquisition’s approval and closing.
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