Do you remember when the 2nd generation Honda Accord got its first GPS Navigation system? The chunky piece of electronic set probably sent the automotive industry running.

Cut to 2024 (or soon to be 2025), automotive navigation as a product has seen deep transformation. The journey from the early 80s has been nothing short of a miracle. Commonly called GPS devices, have taken on several avatars - Portable Navigation Devices, built-in navigation systems in the dashboard, and navigation apps on smartphones. Today, it is the de facto method to find our way to a new destination, be it on 4 or 2 wheelers, self-driven or otherwise.

What is changing in the Automotive Navigation Landscape and why?

Multiple market research institutions project Automotive Navigation to grow at a CAGR of between 6-8% from 2024 through 2032. With a legacy this old, what is driving such a steep growth rate, and what is drawing the attention of vehicle manufacturers and customers alike? Today, navigation is no longer a horizontal service and means to go from point A to B. Navigation systems closely interact with the other systems in the vehicle to enhance the all-round experience of consumers. These value-adds are continuously improving comfort, safety, fuel economy, and enabling a range of unprecedented features in the vehicle. The overall impact is strong enough to influence the buyer’s decision-making process. And this increase in interest is driving up the OEM focus on navigation.

A classic example of this is the recent strategic partnership between Mercedez-Benz and Google to build a customized navigation experience based on Google Maps platform.

Navigation Systems Transformation and its Impact on users

Leveraging a tight integration with the other automotive subsystems, ECUs, built-in navigation now enables a host of new features.

1. Seamless Digital Cockpit experience

Lifting navigation from being just a part of the IVI system, to the Instrument Cluster and Heads-Up Display, allows the driver to access route information with minimal distraction, in the line of sight. Thereby improving the safety and comfort for the driver.

2. Intelligent Routing

Integration with the powertrain, battery management systems, and engine controller to support route options that prioritize –

• Fuel efficiency by factoring vehicle characteristics (weight, power, fuel type – ICE, EV, hybrid), vehicle’s climatization settings
• Driving preferences, e.g. sports mode with high power throughout
• Reachability and Range Management for EVs

3. ADAS enabler

As navigation is typically the manager of map data, it provides information about the road profiles (curvature, gradient, road quality) of the calculated route to ADAS. The ADAS algorithm consumes this digital map data or Electronic Horizon data and the current vehicle position to realize ADAS use cases such as over-speeding alerts, lane departure warning, and other notifications and warnings.

4. Customized User Experience

Build-in navigation systems use User profiles for a more contextualized experience that covers –

• User-specific POIs, combining preferences such as EV charging with layover choices like cafes, restaurant chains, shopping malls
• Predictive navigation based on historical usage and patterns
• Routing customized to other user preferences like freeways, toll gates, subscriptions (parking, charging service providers)
• Integration with calendars, collaboration services such as e-mail
• Smartphone – Phone, Navigation apps, and other apps

5. Single source of high-accuracy positioning data

In-vehicle Navigation solutions employ positioning data from multiple sources and apply sensor fusion to refine this data. Typically, cleaning up the vehicle position involves using Geo-position data, High-Definition maps (with lane and other information), cameras, Dead Reckoning (DR) data, and vehicle speed. This positioning data with improved accuracy is consumed by multiple components of the vehicle.

Navigation Systems Transformation and its Impact on Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)

1. Brand Loyalty

The Navigation application as part of the IVI system allows OEMs to create a more brand-aligned User Experience. Users interact with streamlined themes, icons, and screen transitions that are use-friendly. A sense of familiarity and cross-functional uniformity enables brands to increase customer retention.

2. User Database

User data collected by Navigation systems is an oilfield of opportunities. Navigation comprises of a hybrid system of on-board and online components. Online maps are hosted on the OEM’s cloud along with other user data – both direct and derivative. As one can imagine, this data includes user preferences, driving patterns, subscriptions, and much more.

3. New Revenue Streams

User data, owned by the OEM, unfolds a range of possibilities for new revenue streams – as-a-service business models, collaboration with service providers, social media integration, to name a few. Departing from passenger vehicles and driver-centric use cases, commercial use cases involve fleet management, telematics services, and other after-sales services. All of these rely extensively upon maps, positioning, and navigation services. In these cases, also, built-in navigation brings advantages of standardization, reliability, and secure handling of data.

Benefits for Government and Administration, the social aspect

1. Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA)

ISA, or an equivalent variant, is now a mandatory requirement in many parts of the world. In the EU, the Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 of the European Parliament and of the Council 1 mandates motor vehicles of categories M and N to be equipped with intelligent speed assistance (ISA) systems from 6 July 2022 for new vehicle types, and from 7 July 2024 for all new vehicles. ‘Speed Limit Determination System’, ‘Speed Limit Identification Function’, are components of an ISA system that can use electronic / digital maps and vehicle positioning as one of the sources of speed-limit data.

2. Information source for administrative bodies and insurance companies

As OEMs collect and manage driving data, this crowdsourced data can serve as a useful source of information to administrative bodies or local governments. If an agreement can be reached between OEMs and such bodies to share this information, it can be utilized for traffic monitoring and management. Innovative use cases combining navigation with V2X technology can also include integration with the likes of insurance companies and law enforcement agencies.

Looking for a partner for Navigation Solutions?

Sasken, as a leading automotive solution provider with an established customer portfolio, is uniquely positioned to assist vehicle manufacturers and Tier-1s to address their navigation needs. This includes consulting, building, and sustaining fit-for-purpose navigation systems aligned with the functional, cost, and schedule requirements. Also, it is imperative to integrate navigation with the other vehicle functions to extract the full potential of this technology.

In Q2 2024, Sasken entered a strategic partnership with JOYNEXT to co-innovate on automotive technologies and reach wider geographies and market segments. This partnership adds an end-to-end navigation solution to Sasken’s portfolio, one that has been successfully running in millions of vehicles across the globe. Robust, adaptable, and modular, this solution comprising of map engine and electronic map, can be utilized as a whole, or its components can be reused in other functions such as ADAS. Sasken’s experience, products, and services can be used to bootstrap the navigation roadmap of OEMs, Tier-1s, and other navigation solution providers.

Conclusion

It is evident that Navigation in its transformed avatar is here to stay. As OEMs shift focus to before and after-sales space, increasingly investing in dealership experience, repair software, navigation provides an excellent opportunity in increasing customers’ brand engagement and loyalty. Further, there is a significant departure in the adoption of other non-fossil fuels when compared to Electric Vehicles. For instance, hydrogen fuel cell technology is pitched to drive a market adoption of USD 2.1 billion by 2030. In contrast, the EV market is projected to reach USD 620 billion in the same time frame. EV usage is heavily dependent on range management, that requires battery management to work in tandem with navigation. Finally, with governments around the globe pushing for safer driving conditions and mandating requirements such as ISA and GSR2, the need for built-in navigation system is clearly established. Navigation has evolved into a bouquet of services for the end user and a horizontal offering for OEMs, and therefore presents novel opportunities to both these bodies of B2B (OEMs and Tier-1s) and B2C consumers (vehicle owners).