Business Travelers Begin Using In-Car Navigators

<B> Business Travelers Begin Using In-Car Navigators</B>

By Lynn Woods

As in-car navigation systems proliferate, their appeal and application to the business sector is growing. While the rental car companies have not yet rolled out the systems to any large extent, corporations are beginning to utilize navigation systems and automated emergency services--which track vehicles through global positioning satellites--in their corporate fleets.

In-vehicle navigation systems are available pre-installed in certain new Lexus, BMW, Acura, Mercedes-Benz and GM models. Until recently their appeal was to individual car owners, but now "companies are looking at them as a way to improve on-the-road efficiencies," said Stephen Witt, assistant vice president of marketing at Alpine Electronics of America Inc., the Torrance, Calif.-based manufacturer of the Alpine Navigation and Information System. "Their value as a business tool is starting to sink in," he said. "Companies are inquiring about them."

Todd Carstensen, a spokesperson at General Motors, said GM was "in negotiation with many corporations" regarding its automated emergency and in-vehicle concierge service, called OnStar. "We have an active fleet program," he said, "and we're testing fleets at some corporations."

Some companies are interested in using the systems for security on cash-carrying vehicles, or for traveling salespeople "who want to know where's the closest Kinko's," Carstensen said. OnStar is available in 24 different GM models, for about $1,300, not including installation, plus a $22.50 monthly service charge.

CARIN (Car Information Navigation), an in-vehicle guidance system produced by Philips Car Systems, a division of Mannesmann VDO, also is "very popular with business travelers," said Mark Stephensen, vice president of marketing. "We're selling to people with delivery fleets and service vehicles." It also has had its first big order from a limousine firm, he said. Available off the shelf since last October, and an option for certain BMW models for several years, CARIN retails for $2,399, including a CD map and installation.

On the travel and fleet side, however, there's still been little interest to date in GPS systems, mainly because of the price. While a few clients at PHH Vehicle Management Services, a fleet management company based in Hunt Valley, Md., were using the systems, spokesperson Pilar Page said many more would consider it if and when "the price is cut in half."

Paul Zielinski, travel manager at Dow Chemical, said his company saw no reason to pay for such systems when traveling employees seeking street-by-street directions can get them by accessing map sites on the Internet for free.

Manufacturers said the high price tag reflects the novelty and still-small customer base of their products. "As the subscriber base grows and the electronics improve, the price will come down," said Carstensen. He noted Magellan Corp., the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based manufacturer of the Pathmaster in-vehicle navigation system, sold as a stand-alone product and available in Hertz and Avis rental cars, has reduced the price of its product from $1,995 to $1,495.

Currently, about a dozen U.S. manufacturers are producing in-vehicle guidance systems. They generally fall into two categories: products that provide turn-by-turn directions to a destination, utilizing audio commands and a monitor showing textual instructions and a map, and emergency services, deployed either automatically with the deployment of an airbag or through a button pushed to summon help.

All the systems use mapping data from Navigation Technologies, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company that so far has mapped 80 of the top 100 population centers in the United States, and will have all 100 done by the end of the year. NavTech's mapping database also includes interstate highways and other major routes.

NavTech issues the data on seven CDs, divided by region. Updates are available from all the manufacturers, in some cases for free but usually costing about $150 per update, provided in most cases twice a year. What distinguishes the products are the proprietary systems used by each to access the data. There are differences in the quality of the maps displayed--those in Hertz's NeverLost system, introduced in 1995, are primitive compared to the full-color, graphically rich maps used in Alpine--and the voice commands.

Some systems are integrated with other functions. The version of CARIN used in BMWs, for example, can be integrated with a pre-installed cell phone for an additional "May Day and Emergency Service." In the event of a breakdown or accident, the driver pushes a button to send the car's latitude and longitude readings to a central response center. A representative speaks to the driver to determine whether a tow truck or ambulance is needed. Drivers also can book a flight or hotel using the system.

The May Day feature will become available on the stand-alone CARIN product by January of next year, said Stephensen, and will not require a cell phone.

Other emergency products that don't include automated routing are OnGuard, an off-the-shelf product costing $795 for the hardware and $100 to $150 for installation, plus a monthly fee of $17.95; OnStar, an option on 24 GM models; and Ford Motor Company's RESCUE, an option on Lincoln Continentals.

At the end of the year, Visteon Automotive Systems, the Ford division that manufactures RESCUE, will partner with Motorola to release a new off-the-shelf system that will offer turn-by-turn directions and theft tracking. Drivers will press an SOS button for emergency or roadside service and an INFO button for route assistance or other service.

Within the next two years, real-time traffic reports should become available in a handful of cities. Furthest along is San Antonio's TransGuide project, an initiative with the Texas Department of Transportation using 300 Alpine systems. Sensors and video cameras installed along 200 miles of roads will feed traffic information to a central computer and broadcast it back to cars with the Alpine system.

Other tests are underway in Phoenix, Seattle and metropolitan New York, said a spokesperson at NavTech. Ultimately, the advent of "telematics" will transform the in-vehicle computers and cell phone links into two-way communication and data systems integrating the functions of automatic routing, emergency and concierge services, real-time traffic information, e-mail and other online services, and even collision alert systems, said Jim White, a spokesperson at Magellan.