Thailand In-car Gps Demand Growing

[george]

Thailand in-car GPS demand growing

BANGKOK: -- The market growth for in-car global positioning system (GPS) navigation in Thailand is expected to double this year, despite a slump in demand for new passenger cars.

Overall car GPS sales would top 200,000 units this year in a market worth more than 100 million baht, says iFox Co, a leading car GPS device distributor.

Marketing manager Dallatchawan Huahmonkij remains optimistic about the product's prospects, thanks to marketing campaign last year among industry players in building strong awareness at the customer level last year.

"Navigation now becomes a focus of Thailand's car GPS market," she said. "Despite its small size at present, the market now has clearer growth prospects."

Ms Dallatchawan said a GPS car device was no longer considered a luxury but a necessity that help drivers avoid traffic tie-ups or roadwork to save fuel costs.

"It has been forecast that up to 30% of total registered cars in Thailand will have a GPS car navigator by 2010, compared with below 3% currently," she said.

She acknowledged that the market was just opening up, but is expected to develop at high speed from now with sales doubling this year to 200,000 units.

iFox, the country's second-largest GPS car distributor, expects to capture 10% of the total demand, up from 2,000 units sold last year.

Unlike foreign-made devices, locally developed GPS systems are cheaper and provide more detailed maps of streets and sois, Ms Dallatchawan said.

iFox imports GPS devices. It also develops its own software through its partner PowerMat Co.

She said the company's navigator offered the country's first three-dimensional mapping with pictures of all important sites, and showed their positions on the map.

The iFox has more than 500,000 points of interest nationwide, plus 200 three-dimensional mapping points and 400 junction points, both of which will double this year.

"We plan to extend our car GPS navigation coverage into Malaysia and Singapore by the end of this year," she said.

Ms Dallatchawan said the company was in talks with Toyota and Honda to offer in-car GPS units as stand-alone devices.

-- Bangkok Post 2009-04-06

[indothai]

All they need to implement now is the traffic avoidance system.

Most cities in the US and UK have traffic avoidance and growing.