| Michio Morioka | Telematics Business Development Center, Development Headquarters, Automotive Systems, |
| Takayuki Iino | Engineering Dept., Information and Communication Systems Div., |
| Yoshinori Endo | Product Planning Center, Product Development Headquarters, |
| Teruyuki Ishida | Product Development Headquarters, |
The market for telematics services, which has been a promising market for the ITS (intelligent transport systems) industry, has begun a full-scale expansion. In addition to the increased popularity of cell phones and navigation terminals, which are the windows for telematics services, automobile manufacturers have begun to grapple with telematics in a serious way as a means of maintaining a continuous point of contact with the user. Hitachi, Ltd., as a general manufacturer of information systems that integrate car navigation, automobile equipment, telecommunication and computers, is promoting the offering of a telematics solution. The first phase has been the world's first commercial introduction of the driving route assistance service as an application for Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.'s integrated telematics service introduced in 2002. That service distributes digital maps and information on routes and facilities up to the destination point, mainly through Xanavi Informatics Corporation. The service came installed in several series of new automobiles announced by Nissan in 2002.
 | The Hitachi Hyoron (Japanese Only) |
telematics, navigation, car information system, off-board navigation, intelligent transport system
