Nav Promo Joins TeleAtlas And Navteq

By Amy Gilroy On Dec 5 2005 - 8:00am

TeleAtlas and Navteq, two leading rivals in electronic mapping for GPS systems, are taking the unusual step of joining together to promote the overall navigation category through a display to be in Best Buy and Circuit City stores.

Both mapping companies have financed and developed a demonstration display that will give consumers the opportunity for live, hands-on demonstrations of various navigation products. The kiosk will be in 600 Circuit City stores and 60 Best Buy locations as of Thanksgiving, said TeleAtlas.

The front of the display is developed and financed by TeleAtlas, and the back-end satellite hookup is developed and financed by Navteq, said a TeleAtlas spokeswoman. “We're in this to help build the category because that's what's important now, and then may the best devices win,” noted TeleAtlas chief marketing officer Mike Mitsock.

The kiosk in Best Buy, which the retailer also helped finance, will include products from Magellan, Garmin, Pioneer and TomTom, said Best Buy's mobile electronics senior buyer Scott Fischer. The store is participating because of the need for consumers to “test drive” the products, out from under the glass, with live demonstrations.

Aftermarket in-car navigation products (including transportable products, but not PDAs) have become one of the hottest 12-volt growth segments, rising in year-to-date sales through October by 126.5 percent in units and 74 percent in dollars over the same period last year, according to The NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y.