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J.D. Power and Associates Reports: The Pioneer Navigation System in the Lincoln Zephyr Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction

The Number of Vehicle Models Supplied With Factory-Installed Navigation Systems Has Increased Significantly

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Nov. 13 -- The Pioneer navigation system supplied in the Lincoln Zephyr ranks highest in satisfying new-vehicle owners with their factory-installed navigation systems, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Navigation Usage and Satisfaction Study(SM) released today.

The study, now in its eighth year, identifies six factors that contribute to overall customer satisfaction. They are (in order of importance): ease of use, routing, system appearance, speed of system, voice directions and navigation display screen.

Making its debut in the 2006 study, the Pioneer system supplied in the Lincoln Zephyr ranks highest among all navigation systems included in the study. The Pioneer system performs particularly well in the ease of use, routing and appearance factors. Navigation systems supplied by Alpine and Denso, respectively follow Pioneer in the rankings.

Factory-installed navigation system availability has expanded considerably in recent years with the number of models that offer navigation systems increasing nearly six fold since the year 2000. While the majority of earlier models supplied with navigation systems were in the luxury vehicle segment, navigation systems are becoming more mainstream -- available across a wide variety of vehicle segments.

"With the popularity of navigation systems continuing to increase, many owners still struggle with the functionality of their system, which can cause satisfaction to suffer," said Mike Marshall, director of automotive emerging technologies at J.D. Power and Associates. "The top four navigation system problems are route or map related, accounting for more than 50 percent of all problems cited by owners. Missing map data points continue to be a highly cited problem among users. Frustration with this issue will lessen as the time between building the map and delivering to owners decreases. In the meantime, consumer education regarding the age of the map data may be the easiest way to alleviate this problem."

The study also finds that 95 percent of new-vehicle owners with navigation systems report that they would like to have the ability to access real-time traffic information; however, this feature is only currently available on a very limited number of models. In particular, navigation system owners express high interest in satellite radio as a means to relay real-time traffic information, with more than 40 percent of owners being interested in paying to receive traffic information through this option.

The 2006 Navigation Usage and Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 14,103 owners who recently purchased or leased new vehicles with factory- installed navigation systems.

  Navigation System Ranking by Vehicle Model
  (Based on a 1,000-point scale)

  Supplier           Model                                    Index Score
  Pioneer            Lincoln Zephyr                           844
  Alpine             Acura TSX                                838
  Alpine             Acura RL                                 825
  Denso              Lexus IS                                 821
  Denso              Lincoln Town Car                         821
  Pioneer            Ford Freestyle                           815
  Alpine             Honda Ridgeline                          813
  Pioneer            Ford Explorer                            812
  Alpine             Honda Civic                              812
  Alpine             Honda Accord                             810
  Alpine             Honda Civic Hybrid                       810
  Pioneer            Ford Five Hundred                        807
  Alpine             Acura TL                                 804
  Alpine             Dodge Durango                            803
  Alpine             Honda Pilot                              802
  Alpine             Dodge Charger                            800
  Denso              Lexus GS                                 800
  Pioneer            Mercury Mountaineer                      799
  Xanavi             Nissan Quest                             798
  Alpine             Honda Odyssey                            796
  Xanavi             Infiniti M                               796
  Alpine             Dodge Ram                                793
  Xanavi             Nissan Z                                 793
  Delphi             Chevrolet TrailBlazer                    790
  Alpine             Chrysler 300/300C                        789
  Delphi             Chevrolet Avalanche                      785
  Denso              Lincoln LS                               784
  Denso              Toyota Sienna                            783
  Xanavi             Nissan Maxima                            781
  Xanavi             Nissan Pathfinder                        780
  Alpine             Jeep Grand Cherokee                      777
  Denso              Lincoln Navigator                        775
  Kenwood            Subaru Legacy                            774
  Alpine             Jeep Commander                           773
  Siemens VDO        BMW 3 Series                             770
  Alpine             Dodge Grand Caravan                      770
  Siemens VDO        MINI Cooper/Cooper S                     769
  Denso              Toyota Tundra                            769
  Denso              Lexus  LS 430                            768
  Denso              Chevrolet Corvette                       767
  NA                 Industry Average                         767
  Alpine             Dodge Magnum                             766
  Denso              Cadillac DTS                             761
  Denso              Toyota Prius                             759
  Denso              Lexus  RX 330                            758
  Alpine             Acura MDX                                757
  Xanavi             Nissan Titan                             757
  Kenwood            Subaru B9 Tribeca                        757
  Delphi             GMC Envoy                                753
  Denso              Mazda3                                   753
  Blaupunkt          Volkswagen Jetta                         753
  Xanavi             Nissan Altima                            752
  Xanavi             Nissan Murano                            751
  Denso              Toyota Sequoia                           748
  Denso              Toyota Camry                             745
  Visteon            Ford Escape Hybrid                       744
  Denso              Toyota Highlander                        744
  Denso              Mazda5                                   742
  Aisin AW           Audi A3                                  739
  Kenwood            Subaru Outback                           739
  Blaupunkt          Volkswagen Passat                        739
  Alpine             Chrysler Pacifica                        737
  Siemens VDO        BMW  5-Series                            731
  Harman/Becker      Mercedes-Benz SLK                        722
  Alpine             Chrysler Town & Country                  717
  Aisin AW           Audi A4                                  716
  Denso              Toyota Avalon                            716
  Alpine             Mercedes-Benz C-Class                    715
  Visteon            Ford Expedition                          706
  Alpine             Jeep Liberty                             705
  Visteon            Mercury Mariner Hybrid                   698

Included in the study but not ranked due to small sample size are: Audi A6 (Harman/Becker), Audi A8 (Harman/Becker), Audi S4 (Aisin AW), BMW 6-Series (Siemens VDO), BMW 7-Series (Siemens VDO), BMW M3 (Siemens VDO), BMW M5 (Siemens VDO), BMW X3 (Siemens VDO), BMW X5 (Siemens VDO), Cadillac CTS (Delphi), Cadillac Escalade EXT (Delphi), Cadillac Escalade/ESV (Delphi), Cadillac SRX (Denso), Cadillac STS (Denso), Cadillac XLR (Denso), Chevrolet Suburban (Delphi), Chevrolet Tahoe (Delphi), GMC Yukon XL/Denali XL (Delphi), GMC Yukon\Denali (Delphi), HUMMER H2 (Delphi), HUMMER H3 (Delphi), Infiniti FX (Xanavi), Infiniti G35 (Xanavi), Infiniti QX (Xanavi), Jaguar S-Type (Denso), Jaguar XJ (Denso), Jaguar XK (Denso), Jaguar X-Type (Denso), Land Rover LR3(Denso), Land Rover Range Rover (Denso), Lexus ES (Denso), Lexus GX 470 (Denso), Lexus LX 470 (Denso), Lexus, RX 400H (Denso), Lexus SC430 (Denso), Mercedes-Benz CLK (Alpine), Mercedes-Benz CLS (Harman/Becker), Mercedes-Benz E-Class (Harman/Becker), Mercedes-Benz M-Class (Alpine), Mercedes-Benz R-Class (Alpine), Mercedes-Benz S-Class (Becker-Siemens), Mercedes-Benz SL-Class (Becker-Siemens), Nissan Armada (Xanavi), Porsche 911 (Harman/Becker), Porsche Cayenne (Harman/Becker), Toyota Land Cruiser (Denso), Volkswagen Touareg (Blaupunkt) and Volvo XC90 (Mitsubishi Electric).

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 290 offices in 38 countries. Sales in 2005 were $6.0 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.