NAVMAN Creates Wellington R&D Team

NAVMAN Creates Wellington R&D Team

Navman NZ Ltd. is establishing a new research and development (R&D) team in Wellington, to expand its research capacity and help the GPS electronics manufacturer broaden its product range as well as take on new projects from its U.S. partner, Brunswick Corporation.

Steven Newman, Navman chief executive officer, says the company already has strong research capabilities at its Auckland and Christchurch sites, but this marks Navman's first venture into Wellington.

Newman said the team initially will work on marine electronics projects that were already in the pipeline through Navman's recently- finalised association with Brunswick, with the possibility of carrying out some manufacturing in Wellington in the future.

Newman hopes the Wellington location will open up new sources of R&D engineers for Navman, which currently employs around 80 engineers in the company's dedicated R&D teams. Navman is looking to expand its R&D teams significantly across New Zealand in the next 12 months.

The new team, which starts this week with five staff, will be based in Wellington's high tech incubator, the Innovation Greenhouse.

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