Frost & Sullivan Presents European Automotive Safety Systems Product Innovation of the Year Award to NAVTEQ

LONDON, June 18 -- The 2009 Frost & Sullivan European Automotive Safety Systems Product Innovation of the Year Award is presented to NAVTEQ Europe B.V. (NAVTEQ) for its Map and Positioning Engine (MPE) MPE Reference Solution. This innovation creates a simple, efficient and highly cost-effective architecture, along with all the building blocks necessary for digital map-based informational and map-enabled Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and fuel economy into cars.

"With vehicle manufacturers (VMs) and EU looking to reduce fatalities on European roads, NAVTEQ's MPE strategy offers an ideal solution at an opportune moment to help solve critical issues related to road safety and low penetration rates of safety systems through a dedicated cost-effective architecture," notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst P. Aswin Kumar.

The MPE Reference Solution offers the possibility to develop applications that can help reduce road fatalities by improving existing sensor performance. Moreover, it enables enhanced safety in all vehicles, irrespective of whether the vehicle is fitted with a navigation system or not.

"Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have so far been considered niche products, targeted toward the luxury segment," says P. Aswin Kumar. "This is one area where NAVTEQ's MPE Reference Solution will prove to be critical because it is a one-of-a-kind concept that seeks to make map-enhanced ADAS possible for all vehicles and become a mass market product."

The MPE Development Platform is available to the market as part of NAVTEQ's MPE Reference Solution. The MPE Development Platform enables design engineers at semiconductor companies and system suppliers to rapidly develop and test a wide variety of preventive safety, fuel economy, emissions reduction and informational or warning applications. The MPE Reference Solution architecture enables map-based ADAS at a cost considerably less than when based on a full navigation system, eliminating a major barrier for VMs to offer multiple safety applications and fuel economy features at an affordable price for the first time since the introduction of ADAS.

Potential applications based on NAVTEQ's MPE Reference Solution can be broadly classified into three categories. First, warning and informational applications that will directly make use of the information from the digital maps. Second, map-enabled ADAS and active safety applications, where map data enhances other sensor information. Third, fuel economy systems that will help VMs reduce their overall emissions and enable customers to cut costs and minimise environmental degradation.

"The NAVTEQ's MPE strategy offers NAVTEQ a competitive advantage, essentially due to the fact that it complements the existing digital maps business," remarks P. Aswin Kumar. "The digital maps will be a part of the navigation system in upper segment cars, whereas NAVTEQ MPE(TM) map is attractively positioned for taking on the high-volume, lower segment vehicles with low digital map and ADAS penetration, where lower cost and smaller file size allows for broader vehicle adoption of map-enhanced ADAS applications. Applications built on NAVTEQ's MPE Reference Solution can exist independent of the navigation system on lower segment vehicles."

The Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Innovation of the Year Award is presented each year to the company that has demonstrated excellence in new products and technologies within its industry. The recipient company has shown innovation by launching a broad line of emerging products and technologies.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.