Thales Appoints Christian Bubenheim General Manager of Magellan Consumer Business

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Nov. 1, 20048, 2004--Thales today announced it has appointed Christian Bubenheim general manager of its Magellan(R) consumer business. Bubenheim brings with him nearly 15 years of experience in consumer electronics, during which time he drove the successful launch of new product categories and of existing categories into new geographies at companies such as Apple Computer, Compaq and Intel. Bubenheim has served Thales' navigation business for nearly two years as senior director of consumer marketing.

"Christian has been an outstanding leader in our consumer business, bringing energy, drive and market savvy," said Henry Gaillard, president and CEO of Thales' navigation business. "We are pleased now to also be able to capitalize on his overall business, technical and marketing experience to propel the Magellan business forward as GPS becomes more broadly and rapidly adopted in the global market."

During his tenure with Apple, which spanned 1991 to 1997, Bubenheim was instrumental in Apple's entrance into the German-speaking notebook market with the introduction of the PowerBook products in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He managed the market introduction of Apple's Newton technology for the Apple MessagePad in the Central European market and directed European product marketing for the Newton technology, including the creation of business development and licensing opportunities.

Joining Compaq in 1997, Bubenheim was responsible for the worldwide marketing strategies of the iPAQ Pocket PC and Compaq's handheld group. His work with Compaq resulted in the launch of the award-winning C-Series Handheld PC and iPAQ Pocket PC. He also served as acting general manager for the handheld group at Compaq and was responsible for the worldwide Thin Client Platform Business in the iAppliances Division.

Directly before joining Thales, Bubenheim served as vice president and general manager for the Rex Business Unit at Xircom Inc. Following the acquisition of Xircom by Intel Corporation in 2001, Bubenheim accepted the position of General Manager for Intel's Wide Area Wireless (WWO) Organization, which specializes in delivering GPRS products.

At Thales, Bubenheim lead the worldwide team that created and launched the market-leading portable vehicle navigation system, the Magellan RoadMate(TM).

Bubenheim will lead worldwide efforts within Thales' consumer business unit including product marketing, channel marketing, sales, and marketing communications.

About Thales

Thales is an international electronics and systems group serving the defense, aerospace, services and security markets. The group employs 61,500 people worldwide and generated revenues of EUR 10.6 billion in 2003.

Thales' navigation business is one of the world's leaders in positioning, navigation and guidance equipment with global operations. Thales markets its Magellan(R) brand GPS solutions in the consumer electronics, recreation, and automotive markets, and its GPS and GNSS professional products in the survey, GIS/Mapping, and OEM markets. Through its joint venture with Hertz, Thales has developed the Hertz NeverLost(R) vehicle navigation system. Thales key innovations include the first U.S. commercial hand-held GPS receiver for positioning and navigation, and the first handheld GPS with industry standard Secure Digital Memory Card capabilities.

Thales' navigation business is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. with European headquarters in Carquefou, France. For more information, visit http://www.thalesnavigation.com.

Hertz NeverLost is a registered trademark of Hertz Systems, Inc.