Garmin again named Manufacturer of the Year by the National Marine Electronics Association

For sixth straight year, Garmin brings home top NMEA honors, adds to Product of Excellence winning streak with four awards

OLATHE, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Garmin^® International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN), the world’s leading marine electronics manufacturer¹, today announced that it was named Manufacturer of the Year for the sixth consecutive year by members of the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) at its annual business meeting and awards presentation held virtually on Sept. 26. The coveted Manufacturer of the Year honor is given to the most recognized company in the marine electronics industry for excellence in product service and support in the field.

Garmin was also awarded four NMEA Product of Excellence awards in the multi-function display (MFD), autopilot, multi-media entertainment and mobile application—utility categories. These awards are voted on by professional NMEA dealers who specialize in installing marine electronics, qualified NMEA technicians and fellow marine electronics manufacturers.

“It’s a true honor to be the NMEA Manufacturer of the Year for six years running,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of global consumer sales. “Working closely with our dealers, distributors, industry experts and NMEA technicians every step of the way, we’ve created a portfolio of some of the most innovative technology on the water, all backed by our first-class service and support. These awards are a true testament to Garmin’s commitment to excellence and reliability among our industry colleagues and customers, and validate the hard work and dedication of our entire team.”

Garmin won the Product of Excellence award in the MFD category for the sixth consecutive year for its GPSMAP^® 8616xsv, a 16-inch chartplotter with a full HD in-plane switching (IPS) display with multi-touch control. It comes preloaded with the latest BlueChart^® g3 coastal cartography and LakeVü g3 maps with integrated Navionics^® data and Auto Guidance² technology. The GPSMAP 8616xsv offers anglers exceptional sonar detail with built-in support for a wide range of CHIRP traditional and scanning sonars, Ultra High-Definition scanning sonar, and the entire Panoptix^™ all-seeing sonar line, including Panoptix LiveScope^™ live scanning sonar, recipient of the 2018 NMEA Technology of the Year award.

For eight years running, Garmin took the top spot in the autopilot category for its Reactor^™ 40 Hydraulic Autopilot with SmartPump v2. The Reactor was Garmin’s first recreational autopilot system to utilize AHRS technology and boasts usability, installation flexibility, and many other features that prove to be valuable for any vessel.

Fusion^® Entertainment, a Garmin brand, also received consecutive honors with a win in the multimedia entertainment category for the fifth year in a row for the Apollo^™ RA770 marine entertainment system, the world’s first touchscreen marine stereo with Apple AirPlay^®, built-in Wi-Fi and network audio sharing capabilities.

Finally, ActiveCaptain^® was honored in the mobile application—utility category, extending Garmin’s winning streak in this category to six years. ActiveCaptain is a free all-in-one mobile app for mariners that delivers a seamless content management system with access to cartography, automatic delivery of the latest software available, off-vessel planning capabilities, connected services and so much more.

Engineered on the inside for life on the outside, Garmin products have revolutionized life for anglers, sailors, mariners and boat enthusiasts everywhere. Committed to developing the most sophisticated marine electronics the industry has ever known, Garmin believes every day is an opportunity to innovate and a chance to beat yesterday. For more information, visit Garmin's virtual pressroom at garmin.com/newsroom, contact the Media Relations department at 913-397-8200, or follow us at facebook.com/garmin, twitter.com/garminnews, instagram.com/garmin or youtube.com/garmin.

¹Based on 2019 reported sales.
²Auto Guidance is for planning purposes only and does not replace safe navigation operations.

About Garmin International, Inc. Garmin International, Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN). Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Garmin, GPSMAP, BlueChart, Fusion, ActiveCaptain and Navionics are registered trademarks and Panoptix, Panoptix LiveScope, Reactor and Apollo are trademarks of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries.

All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

Notice on Forward-Looking Statements:

This release includes forward-looking statements regarding Garmin Ltd. and its business. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Garmin, including, but not limited to, the risk factors listed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2019, filed by Garmin with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission file number 0-31983). A copy of such Form 10-K is available at https://www.garmin.com/en-US/company/investors/earnings/. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Garmin undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Category: Marine