AI Online

Ai INNOVATION, SINCE 1895

HARMAN Selected to Provide Next-Generation Infotainment for Volkswagen Group Vehicles

HARMAN, the premium global audio and infotainment group (NYSE:HAR), announced today that it has been awarded a six-year, $1.2 Billion contract by Volkswagen AG to provide next-generation infotainment systems for its new vehicle platforms. Volkswagen Group includes Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen. The new multimedia-driven system will offer a sophisticated set of features including dynamic navigation, brilliant graphics, Internet access, and wired or wireless connectivity. An embedded flash memory will provide dynamic navigation data which may be updated as required for current access to routes and road information.

.“We are delighted to extend our long-standing relationship with Volkswagen Group across the leading automaker’s wide range of vehicles,” said Dinesh C. Paliwal, HARMAN’s Chairman, President and CEO. “We are honored by their continued confidence in HARMAN and look forward to delighting new Volkswagen Group drivers with exceptional infotainment solutions blending high performance with driver safety and convenience.”

The new infotainment system will leverage HARMAN’s deep expertise in automotive infotainment applications including tuner technology, premium audio solutions and cutting-edge networking. HARMAN will be the first infotainment system supplier worldwide to integrate the new TI Jacinto 5 SOC (system-on-chip), offering MOST150 networking technology and an FPGA-less design. The very highly integrated system provides a telephone module, a complete set of tuner modules, a six-channel high performance class-D amplifier, DVD-Drive, and a computing module built on the NVIDIA® system-on-chip technology, all housed in a single 1-DIN unit. The new system will be offered in new Volkswagen Group vehicles beginning in 2012.

To hear a voice-recorded message from Harman Chief Executive Dinesh Paliwal regarding this Volkswagen Group announcement, you may dial 888-843-7419 (North America) or 630-652-3042 (International), using security code 28590534. This recording will remain available until January 6, 2011.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems.