Continuing on an existing partnership, Garmin today announced Mercedes-Benz Accessories has selected the nüvi 760 as its latest portable after market navigation solution. This device, named the ’StreetPilot III’ by Mercedes-Benz, is customized with a specially designed mount for the new generation A-Class, B-Class and C-Class cars will be available at dealers across Europe in May 2008.
"This will be the third generation of products developed for the company over the last 3 years," said Roger Jollis, Garmin’s Director of OEM & Mobile Marketing.
The Mercedes- Benz StreetPilot III has been designed with a special dashboard mount integrated into the vehicles electronics. The design of the in-car mount wires it directly into the car’s electronics meaning there are no visible power cables.
The nüvi 760 offers a 4.3" widescreen and includes traffic information, safety camera alerts and hands free calling via Bluetooth. As the system is integrated into the vehicle’s electronics all spoken directions are via the car speakers, muting the radio as the voice guidance speaks the street names as well as directions. The units has all the latest Mercedes-Benz dealerships within its POI database accessed via a touch button on the ’where to’ menu page with the nearest dealer displayed first.
Relationships with automotive OEMs
“This is the sixth European car manufacturer account that Garmin has won business with over the last two years and highlights the demand for customized portable navigation solutions from within the automotive channel”, said Garmin.
In North America Garmin has partnerships for dealer-installed options or accessories with six automotive manufacturers: Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Honda, BMW and MINI. European OEM partnerships were made with Land Rover, Volvo, Honda, Suzuki, Ford Europe, BMW, MINI and EuropCar.
