Clarion gets Nissan order to make car navigation

[Mike]

Sunday February 17, 7:15 PM EST

TOKYO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Japan's leading car audio equipment maker Clarion Co Ltd (6796) said on Monday it received an order to supply 200,000 car navigation systems to Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201) for three new automobile models.

Clarion, which already supplies Nissan -- Japan's third-largest automaker -- with its car audio equipment, said its DVD-equipped car navigation systems will be installed in Nissan's new car models to debut in the business year starting in April.

A Clarion spokesman estimated that a navigation system priced around 100,000 yen ($753) would translate into a deal raking in around 20 billion yen ($150 million) for its next business year.

The system to be installed for Nissan's high-end models will play DVD videos, respond to voice commands and read out e-mail messages.

[Mike]

Sunday February 17, 6:48 PM EST

TOKYO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Japan's leading car audio equipment maker Clarion Co Ltd (6796) received an order to supply 200,000 car navigation systems to Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201) for three new automobile models, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun daily said.

Nissan, Japan's third-largest carmaker, will switch its car navigation supplier from a unit of Hitachi Ltd (6501) to Clarion, which already supplies Nissan with its car audio equipment, the newspaper reported on Sunday.

Neither company was immediately available to comment.

The new car models are to debut in the business year starting in April.

Clarion's deal is estimated to account for around 10 percent of total domestic car navigation system sales, which are forecast to increase 10 percent from 2001 to around two million units this year, the paper said.

Clarion, owned 11.3 percent by Nissan, will also make car navigation equipment to serve as terminals for Nissan's new information service Carwings, to be launched in March.

The new system to be installed for Nissan's high-end models will play DVD videos, respond to voice commands and read out e-mail messages, the paper said.

[Mike]

Sunday February 17, 8:29 PM EST

TOKYO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Shares in Clarion Co Ltd (6796) roared ahead in Monday morning trade after Japan's leading car audio equipment maker said it received an order to supply 200,000 car navigation systems to Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201).

The deal is the first between the two firms in the booming car navigation market in Japan, which Clarion estimates will grow by 10 percent to two million units this year.

Clarion shares shot up to a high of 108 yen, up 37 percent, before easing to 98 yen, up 24 percent, by mid-morning trade.

With its DVD-equipped systems to be installed in three new Nissan models making their debut in the fiscal year starting in April, Clarion expects to grab around 10 percent of the domestic market.

Clarion is owned 11.3 percent by Nissan and is its major supplier of car audio equipment. It expects the new deal to strengthen ties with the nation's third-largest automaker, a Clarion spokesman said.

He estimated that a navigation system cost automakers a wholesale price of around 100,000 yen ($753) and that the deal would bring in around 20 billion yen in the next business year.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun daily reported over the weekend that Nissan selected Clarion's advanced telematics system -- which responds to voice commands -- in preference to equipment from a unit of Hitachi Ltd (6501), its primary supplier of car navigation systems.

A Nissan spokesman declined to comment on details but said its relationship with the Hitachi group, which makes Nissan's GPS-installed systems, would not change.

He also declined to comment on the report's information that Clarion's product would serve as the terminal for Nissan's voice-activated telematics system, Carwings, to be launched in March.

By 0100 GMT, shares in Nissan were down 0.63 percent at 794 yen, while the broader market remained largely unchanged. ($1=132)