PRESS RELEASE
Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., the worldwide leader in satellite navigation, today announces the new Garmin Drive™ product line – easy-to-use portable navigation devices (PNDs) specifically designed to help increase driver situational awareness. The launch of this new lineup marks a significant step forward in the evolution of PNDs from Garmin with four intuitively named models: Garmin Drive™, Garmin DriveSmart™, Garmin DriveAssist™ and Garmin DriveLuxe™. The 2016 Garmin Drive product line is being showcased in the Garmin booth (South Hall 4 #35811) at this year’s Consumer Electronic Show.
“The most exciting development of the new Garmin Drive line is that driver awareness features typically seen in luxury vehicles are now accessible as an aftermarket solution for all drivers,” said Kirsty Quartley, Garmin UK PND Product Manager. “There are many distractions that drivers encounter while running errands, driving to work or taking road trips. These new driver alerts can remove some of these burdens and help drivers stay aware on the road.”
The entire Garmin Drive lineup boasts a number of driver alerts to encourage safer driving and situational awareness. This includes warnings for upcoming sharp curves, railway or animal crossings, alerts for users driving the wrong way on a one-way street and more. Drivers also receive red light and speed camera alerts as well as vital timesaving traffic information with fast-approaching traffic jam notifications. For longer routes, a fatigue warning alert suggests potential break times and available rest areas or places to stop.
In addition to the new driver awareness features, Garmin Drive includes preloaded data from Foursquare® POIs, adding millions of popular shops, restaurants and more. All models offer lifetime maps. Other features designed to simplify navigation include Garmin Real Directions™, which guides drivers using recognisable landmarks, buildings and traffic lights; and Easy Route Shaping that lets drivers modify a route to include preferred cities or roads by touching the navigation screen.
The Garmin DriveSmart boasts all of the features from Garmin Drive and adds customisable smart notifications that allow drivers to display calls, text messages and app notifications on the navigation screen. Voice-activated navigation and Bluetooth® wireless technology for hands-free calling allow drivers to keep both hands safely on the wheel. Garmin DriveSmart can also access Live Traffic information through the Smartphone Link app or out of the box with our Digital Traffic solutions, the fastest traffic avoidance solution offered by Garmin. With updates as often as every 60 seconds.
Garmin DriveAssist builds on the Garmin DriveSmart and includes a built-in dash cam to serve as an eyewitness. The device continually records and automatically saves video footage on impact with the included microSD card. The integrated camera brings in more advanced driver awareness alerts, such as the Forward Collision and Lane Departure Warnings. Additionally, Garmin DriveAssist integrates the new “Go” Alert, a camera-assisted feature that notifies distracted drivers when traffic ahead of their vehicle begins to move. As drivers approach select destinations, Garmin Real Vision™ unveils a camera view on the screen of the device and an arrow points out the specific destination.
The stylish Garmin DriveLuxe is an impressive premium sat nav housed in a beautiful forged metal design. Powered with a sleek magnetic mount, the Garmin DriveLuxe offers automatic dual orientation and innovative navigation features for more driver awareness.
All Garmin Drive devices can be paired with the Garmin BC™ 30 Wireless Backup Camera (sold separately) to easily see behind a vehicle when moving in reverse. Garmin Drive devices may also be paired with the new Garmin babyCam™ in-vehicle video monitor (sold separately).
The Garmin Drive lineup has models in different display sizes with various map regions and navigation features. Suggested retail prices range from £99.99 to £299.99.
The Garmin Drive product line is the latest from Garmin’s consumer automotive segment, the leading worldwide provider of portable navigation devices for cars, motorcycles and trucks. Garmin’s user-friendly navigation solutions have innovative features that provide time- and fuel-saving benefits to meet the demands of everyday driving.
The Garmin Drive range is expected to be available in the UK and Ireland from late March 2016 and RRPs will be £99.99 - £299.99.
For more information, visit www.garmin.com
For decades, Garmin has pioneered new GPS navigation and wireless devices and applications that are designed for people who live an active lifestyle. Garmin serves five primary business units, including automotive, aviation, fitness, marine and outdoor recreation. For more information, follow us at Facebook.com/garmin, Twitter.com/garmin, or Youtube.com/garmin.
1 Red light and speed camera warnings are not available in all regions.
2 Requires users to be driving faster than 50 MPH while approaching slow or stopped traffic.
3 Lifetime maps entitle you to receive map updates when and as such updates are made available by Garmin during the useful life of 1 compatible Garmin product or as long as Garmin receives map data from a third party supplier, whichever is shorter. For the meaning of a product’s “useful life” and for other important terms and conditions, please see Garmin.com/LM for details.
4 To receive smart notifications on your sat nav, you must download the free Smartphone Link app. User’s data plan charges, if any, will apply. Contact your mobile service provider for more information about your service plan’s data and roaming rates. Requires Bluetooth-enabled smartphone (sold separately).
5 Requires Bluetooth-enabled smartphone sold separately.
6 User’s data plan charges, if any, will apply. Contact your mobile service provider for more information about your service plan’s data and roaming rates. Subscription may be required. Requires Bluetooth-enabled smartphone (sold separately).
7 Certain conditions may impair the warning function. Visit Garmin.com/warnings for details.
About Garmin International Inc.
Garmin International Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN). Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
