of 2016 . type private industry information and communications technology founded 1991 headquarters w rzburg germany products gps navigation software gps navigation devices number of employees 400 2008 parent garmin slogan and the world is yours website www.navigon.com navigon 7100 navigon gmbh is a w rzburg germany based manufacturer of gps devices and gps navigation software . it was privately owned until in june 2011 it was announced that navigon was to be acquired by garmin and become a subsidiary of the company . 1 with effect from october 31 2011 navigon has changed its legal entity from corporation aktiengesellschaft to gmbh . 2 navigon s full portfolio included navigon branded personal navigation devices as well as oem software solutions for the navigation wireless and automotive sectors . navigon had offices in asia north america and europe and employed more than 400 people . 3 navigon ag was purchased and fully acquired by garmin ltd. in july 2011 . 4 contents 1 history 1.1 navigon europe 1.2 navigon inc. 1.3 acquisition by garmin 1.3.1 discontinued north american products 1.3.2 current north american products 2 maps 3 navigon traffic live 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit the company was founded in 1991 . in 2000 navigon launched the industry s first navigation software for the pocket pc . with the introduction of traffic message channel based tmc traffic avoidance features in 2002 navigon became the first company to offer such a feature on a consumer gps product . in 2005 private equity firm general atlantic bought a minority interest in the company in order to provide capital for expansion . peter scheufen continues to have majority ownership . in 2006 navigon acquired navteq s navigation software business . after primarily catering to the european market in 2004 navigon directly entered the north american market by forming a subsidiary navigon inc. headquartered in chicago il . 3 navigon europe edit navigon gmbh was the parent company of all navigon brands . navigon was one of the largest gps brands in europe and was well established there . navigon gmbh sold several models that carried similar model numbers usually differentiated with the xx10 or xx50 in their number to those sold in north america . most of the devices included similar features and functionality as their counterparts . additionally there are several older models which were sold under the transonic name in europe which are products of navigon gmbh . these models have since been discontinued having been replaced by navigon s then current offerings . navigon inc. edit the u.s. subsidiary navigon inc. was formed in march 2004 with edgar christen as general manager to adapt and market the navigon product line in the north american market . navigon inc. announced its first oem agreement in november 2004 with easypocketnav.com a leading distributor for portable gps navigation solutions . easypocketnav.com marketed and sold the oncourse navigator tm software based on navigon s technology platform which turned microsoft powered pocket pcs into an easy to use voice guided gps navigation system . in may 2006 navigon appointed andreas hecht as senior vice president general manager of the americas and in may 2007 as president general manager . he replaced edgar christen as general manager . hecht was responsible for navigon s operations in the u.s. canada mexico and south america . an authority in the navigation sector hecht was a 10 year veteran of navteq creators of the world s most widely used digital maps where he served in senior executive roles in technology and business development in the u.s. europe and latin america . navigon inc. launched three models in the north american market in july 2007 . the initial launch included the 2100 2120 in canada 5100 and 7100 models . these models introduced several new features to the north american consumer gps market including reality view a feature which displays computer generated static images of complex interstate highway interchanges . lifetime traffic traffic message channel service similar to offerings from other companies but for a one time fee or included with some higher end models . zagat survey ratings & reviews in april 2008 navigon inc. expanded their line up with the 2100 max 2120 max in canada model . this model is functionally similar to the original 2100 but includes a larger 4.3 lcd screen and adds the company s direct help functionality . on october 13 2008 navigon announced that michael roach former director of u.s. sales for lg electronics would become president of navigon s north american operations . 5 in his role as president for the americas roach lead all marketing and sales functions for the americas . he reported directly to egon minar chief sales officer at navigon ag germany . roach replaced andreas hecht . on may 4 2009 navigon announced that they would cease north american sales . according to ceo egon minar due to the difficult economic environment and the aggressive pricing we have decided to withdraw from the pnd business in north america for the time being . we are however not closing down our chicago office which will continue to serve our automotive and mobile phone businesses in north america . 6 since this announcement the chicago office has in fact been closed . as of august 2009 the only consumer products navigon offered in north america were the iphone application android apps windows phone 7 apps . visits from north american ip addresses to the www.navigon.com or www.navigonusa.com sites were redirected to a site devoted to the mobile apps with no mention of former navigon consumer products even those that were brand new on the market less than a year before . despite discontinuing north american sales navigon products were still supported albeit only by e mail with european support representatives until sale of the company . those individuals who owned navigon s map update service prior to its discontinuation were still receiving map updates for their devices as of december 2009 but updating ended in 2011 with the sale of navigon ag to garmin ltd. acquisition by garmin edit on july 26 2011 garmin confirmed that its acquisition of navigon was complete . the first line of its press release stated garmin ltd. nasdaq grmn the global leader in satellite navigation announced today that it has completed the acquisition of navigon ag navigon a privately held navigation provider headquartered in w rzburg germany . 4 discontinued north american products edit navigon 2000s navigon 2090s radioshack exclusive navigon 2200t navigon 2100 max navigon 2120 max navigon 5100 max navigon 7200t navigon 8100t current north american products edit navigon iphone app navigon mobilenavigator for the android platform navigon usa navigon europe and traffic4all apps for the windows phone platform maps edit the maps used by navigon are provided by navteq . map errors are handled by the navteq map reporter . 7 errors can be reported using navigon s report map errors page 8 and also using the navteq map reporter . 9 in june 2011 navigon introduced a point of interest package derived from the crowdsourced openstreetmap project . 10 navigon traffic live edit navigon s iphone application mobilenavigator is all set to receive the live traffic feature that is capable of warning users of the upcoming traffic congestion and dynamically routing the user around it . 11 see also edit wikimedia commons has media related to navigon . automotive navigation system comparison of commercial gps software garmin magellan navigation satmap tomtom traffic message channel references edit garmin ltd. announces signing of agreement to acquire navigon ag . navigon . 14 june 2011 . retrieved 2012 12 14 . about navigon . navigon . retrieved 2012 12 14 . a b history of navigon . navigon . retrieved 2012 12 14 . a b donald melanson july 26 2011 . garmin confirms its acquisition of navigon is complete . engadget . retrieved 2014 03 02 . executive profile michael roach . bloomberg . retrieved 2012 12 14 . darren murph may 4 2009 . navigon withdraws from gps business in north america . engadget . retrieved 2012 12 14 . about navteq map reporter . navteq . retrieved 2010 10 09 . report map errors . navigon . retrieved 2010 10 10 . navteq map reporter . navteq . retrieved 2010 10 09 . new poi packages from navigon site specific information in 44 countries . navigon ag . retrieved 2011 06 15 . dong ngo september 16 2009 . navigon gps iphone app to get live traffic . cnet . retrieved 2012 12 14 . external links edit official navigon site navteq map reporter navigon report map errors retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title navigon & oldid 733899853 categories navigation system companiesroad traffic managementmultinational companieselectronics companies of germanycompanies based in hamburggerman brandshidden categories commons category with local link same as on wikidata 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