SHANGHAI, China — Visteon recently launched its first automotive integrated navigation system completely designed at the Visteon China Technical Center and tailored for Chinese consumers. Debuting on the Chang’An Ford Mazda Automobile (CFMA) Mondeo — Zhi Sheng Ghia Hi and Mondeo — Zhi Sheng Ghia D, the navigation solution features an integrated digital radio, DVD, advanced user-friendly HMI and climate controls.
Visteon was able to provide CFMA with a high-end solution at an accelerated speed. Product development time from award to launch was 11 months, much faster than the industry’s traditional 18 to 24 months development cycle.
"The integrated satellite navigation system provided by Visteon for our latest Mondeo — Zhi Sheng Ghia Hi and Mondeo — Zhi Sheng Ghia D is a leading-edge product. Visteon’s China Technical Center team ensured that our first navigation system for China had high feature content compared with the market’s current offering. We were also impressed by the speed at which they were able to develop this unique solution tailored for Chinese consumers," said Roger Liu, deputy program director, Chang’An Ford Mazda Automobile.
A development first for the Visteon China Technical Center, the system is based on an existing radio and DVD platform, to which is added an advanced navigation system. A comprehensive benchmarking exercise was carried out at the start of the product development phase to ensure the highest features content currently available in any Chinese vehicle in the C/D car segment.
"We are happy to work with CFMA to help them deliver products that appeal to Chinese consumers. The ingenuity of this system is its flexibility: it allows automakers to easily adapt the product to their specific needs and select the degree of advanced features suitable to their customers,’ said Dean Miles, product segment leader, audio & infotainment, Visteon Asia Pacific. "This system also uses a Secure Digital (SD) memory card to ensure easy map upgrades as China’s navigation map database continues to develop."
"This system is a testimony to the talent, speed and efficiency of the Visteon China Technical Center team as well as Visteon’s ability to provide integrated solutions with maximum flexibility for our customers," said Steve Meszaros, Visteon vice president and president, electronics product group. "We are committed to continue building our local product development capability in China to support automakers’ strategies in this market and meet the specific requirements of Chinese consumers."
