Strategy Analytics' Automotive Consumer Insights Service has published new research on navigation usage in the US and Western Europe.  While embedded navigation systems are used more frequently than PNDs and navigation applications on mobile devices in both regions, usage of PNDs and mobile navigation apps are similar in Western Europe.  US consumers still see PNDs as superior to mobile navigation apps and use them more frequently.  User satisfaction with features on PNDs and mobile navigation apps are roughly equivalent in both regions.

The report also examined consumer interest and willingness to pay for real-time traffic and lane assistance features.  Consumers in Western Europe are more likely to be willing to pay for real-time traffic than those in the US, though the amount they would be willing to pay is roughly equivalent in both regions.

These findings show that consumer attitudes toward PND and mobile navigaiton apps haven't changed from previous SA research showing that consumers in Western Europe are more ready to adopt mobile device-based navigation than consumers in the US, who still see it as a second-class solution.  However, with wider availability of free navigation apps and improved user experience we expect that to change in the near future.