Garmin Woes Expand

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Garmin, Garmin… the recall on its portable navi devices is expanding. Now Nissan is recalling vehicles equipped with some Garmin Nuvi GPS systems, joining a similar recall by Suzuki.

Plus Garmin said sales of its nuvifone GPS/smartphones have not lived up to expectations (see below).

Regarding the recall, Nissan has installed over 5,000 Garmin Nuvi devices on Altima, Pathfinder, Frontier, Rogue, Sentra, Versa and Xterra vehicles. Garmin equips these vehicles with the nuvi 750 that may include a faulty battery that could overheat and lead to a fire hazard.

Nissan customers can also purchase the nuvi 750 over-the-counter at a Nissan dealership, and Nissan is encouraging these customers to go to the Garmin Web site to see if their particular unitl is affected, reports Auto Talk.

Garmin’s troubles surfaced in August when it announced a voluntary recall on 1.2 million nuvi devices because battery overheating was found in 10 cases. Then a week ago Suzuki joined the recall for several Equator, Grand Vitara and SX4 models that are equipped with Garmin GPS.

Regarding Garmin’s smartphone headaches, CFO Kevin Rauckman told Reuters that nuvifone sales have not met expectations. Garmin will examine
the sector over the next 6 months and decide whether to continue or quit the smartphone business.

In Garmin’s favor, it must have convinced boat builders that its devices are now risk free as the American Boatbuilders Association (ABA) selected Garmin as its supplier of choice for marine navigation.

Source: Auto Talk, Bloomberg

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