January 10, 2006

Enterprise Car Rental to offer Garmin StreetPilot C340

Taking another page from the Magellan playbook, Garmin is teaming up with yet another car rental firm - this time it's Enterprise car rental renting the Garmin StreetPilot C340. Previously, Garmin struck a deal with Dollar/ Thrifty car rental - see announcement, where they are renting a similar model, the Garmin StreetPilot C330.

Garmin's portable automotive navigation units will be rolled out in January at 45 Enterprise airport locations across the United States. By the end of March, Garmin's StreetPilot navigators will be available at Enterprise's top 100 airport locations.

"We're very excited to provide Enterprise Rent-A-Car with a specialized version of one of our flagship automotive navigators," said Gary Kelley, Garminâ€™s vice president of marketing. "Whether traveling for business or pleasure, Enterprise customers can now count on the convenience and safety of state-of-the-art, easy-to-use Garmin GPS navigation which takes all the stress out of driving in an unfamiliar city."

The Enterprise navigators feature Garmin's highly-acclaimed user interface which is a snap to use - even motorists who have never experienced GPS navigation will quickly master the StreetPilot's intuitive menus. Easy to read selections appear on a color touch screen display to guide the user through the simple menu or to his or her desired service or destination.

The unit gives travelers turn-by-turn voice-prompted directions to virtually anywhere in the U.S., Canada, or Puerto Rico. Pre-loaded road maps of the entire U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico include addresses and nearly six million points of interest - including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, and tourist attractions. Map data is provided by NAVTEQ - recognized as a world leader in premium-quality, highly accurate mapping. More than 5,800 neighborhood and airport Enterprise rental locations are also loaded into the database, so returning a vehicle is easy.

Garmin's StreetPilot c340 is the only navigator available in rental cars with a text-to-speech feature that speaks the name of the next turn ("turn right on Main Street") instead of simply calling out distances ("turn right in 500 feet"). The feature typically found only on premium navigation systems is particularly useful in congested, unfamiliar urban areas. I like this about the mid-level GPS units. It really does help clear up confusion when the streets are tight.

Enterprise plans to offer the units for $7.95 per day - one of the lowest in-car navigation rates in the rental car industry, and the lowest among national companies. After roll-out to the top 100 U.S. airports is complete this spring, Enterprise customers will be able to reserve a StreetPilot navigator via the company's website at www.enterprise.com.