Jim Flaherty to Lead Thales' Magellan GPS Sales for NCSA

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--May 4, 2006--Thales' navigation business, creators of the Hertz(R) NeverLost(R) and a leading global innovator of GPS navigation solutions, is proud to announce the appointment of Jim Flaherty to the position of vice president of consumer sales for the company's Magellan(R) brand of outdoor and vehicle navigation products. In his new role, Flaherty is charged with leading the consumer sales operations for the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America.

Flaherty joined Thales as director of national consumer electronics accounts two years ago. During that time, Flaherty played a key role in successfully managing major accounts.

"Flaherty has a proven track record with more than 30 years of experience in sales, product development, distribution, and marketing," said Christian Bubenheim, general manager of Thales' consumer business. "While at Thales, Flaherty has made significant achievements in channel expansion for the Magellan GPS brand throughout North America. As vice president of consumer sales, he will be a key asset in driving our sales team to continued success in 2006 and beyond."

Among his most notable accomplishments prior to joining Thales, Flaherty held leadership positions with ATT/Lucent Technologies and Cobra Electronics. At ATT/Lucent he helped develop a third-party retail strategy, and served as vice president for the consumer product division. As vice president of sales at Cobra, Flaherty helped launch the company's marine and GPS businesses, and expanded distribution by adding thousands of new retail outlets.

Flaherty has a degree in Business Administration from Northwood University in Michigan.

About Thales' navigation business

Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group serving defense, aerospace, security and services markets. The Group employs 60,000 people throughout the world and generated revenues of 10.3 billion Euros in 2005.

Thales' navigation business is a global innovator of navigation and positioning solutions. The company markets its Magellan brand GPS products in vehicle navigation and outdoor markets, and its professional GPS and GNSS solutions in the survey, GIS/Mapping, and OEM markets that include consumer electronics, automotive navigation and high-precision applications. Also, through its joint venture with Hertz, Thales Navigation has developed the Hertz NeverLost(R) vehicle navigation system.

Thales' navigation business is headquartered in San Dimas, Calif., with European headquarters in Carquefou, France. For more information, visit www.thalesgroup.com/navigation.