Columbus Sat Nav map update pricing?

[Maverick]

I know that overheads due to the Australia-to-Germany-to-Australia round trip would be not inconsiderable, but I'm pretty sure that even German sat-nav updates would struggle to be worth anywhere near the $400 mark, licence fees or no licence fees.

Which comes back to volume, how many cars with sat nav are sold in Germany as opposed to Australia? The volume would be at least a fifty fold difference.

What are they really worth anyway? It took WhereIs? almost 12 months to recognise a new highway here in WA - and it had been under construction for a good 3 years, not like it just appeared over night or whatever. Google maps, still doesn't have it. If they're only as good as their information, then they're probably only worth $50!

Whereis sells the data and the way the market is in Australia there are not many choices for mapping data. Like anything that Telstra are involved with Sensis/Whereis are out to gouge as much as they can and this is partially the fault of the Government as mapping data should be free or cheap to access given it's owned by the people (like in the USA). This is why Google can't offer free navigation software that does turn by turn in Australia as they have to pay nearly $100 per device plus ongoing costs as the maps are constantly updated (because you're accessing them online).

As for the option of the in-dash sat-nav in the first place, I think the reason they cost what they cost (and their updates) is quite simple - people still option them (whether for the convenience, or just so they have everything, it doesn't really matter), so why would the cost go down? The cost will only go down when manufacturers find that people are not optioning their sat-nav's due to price. Personally, I don't see that happening any time soon - after all, when you've already spend $40, $50, $60K+ on a car, another couple grand may not seem that much. Pragmatists will use their TomTom/iPhone/etc, those who must have it all will still tick the option box.

Take a look at what you get in the RNS 510 for the dollars and take a look at off the shelf units from manufacturesrs like Alpine, Kenwod and so on. Nothing compares to the RNS 510 specification wise nor integration wise. The fact that it's all in the one unit and I can use it for just about everything is the big seller for me and I wouldn't consider buying a new car without a head unit like the RNS 510.

I hope the VW one is better! The Audi system was not all that wonderful - had an A6 hire car in Melbourne last year, and the sat-nav was okay, but far from brilliant

The VW one is far better, the Audi system is getting old but will be replaced shortly with a newer system.

[woofy]

Mazda are using a portable unit because it's cheap and nasty, they don't have the resources that Volkswagen do to be able to create a sat nav unit like the RNS 510 that fully integrates into the car and is without a doubt the best sat nav head unit on the market from any vehicle manufacturer.

If you're happy to have a tiny screen gps that doesn't integrate into the car there is nothing stopping you from buying one and sticking it to the dash or windscreen.

Volkswagen or any other manufacturer are not going to drop prices just because some other manufacturers might drop their price, if you wanted to buy a car based on price you should have gone to a Hyundai dealer instead of Volkswagen.

The map prices are priced that way because of volume, as more cars are sold with the RNS 510 the maps will become cheaper. The US is the cheapest place to get maps as unlikely most other countries (including Australia and most of the EU) there is no "ownership" of mapping data by private companies.

I'm sure Mazda very well do have the resources, in Japan they spec out cars with a lot of options we never see here, GPS integrated units have been around a long time in most Jap spec cars of any make. The choice with the cheap and quick unit was because it comes standard in a 25k car. No matter how good the RNS unit is (and it is good), there comes a point where charging an exorbitant cost as an option doesn't happen anymore, VWs etc are not a BMW or Audi and in their market segment they can't act like they are. It's only really here we get reamed by Euro car pricing, in the US VW Jettas are cheaper than a Mazda 6...

4 yrs ago these units were relevant at that price, but now they need to keep up with the price of technology, or just include it. The fact that Skoda are now going to put the RNS310 in standard in a lot of models shows this is happening. The next outcry will be the map update, and yes we do get reamed by Sensis here, but not as much anymore.

"Volkswagen or any other manufacturer are not going to drop prices just because some other manufacturers might drop their price, if you wanted to buy a car based on price you should have gone to a Hyundai dealer instead of Volkswagen."

^This makes no sense to me, Skoda/VAG are about to do it here, its not like we pay the $10k ABS brakes used to be, technology gets cheaper over time. I'm not sure why you are defending this so much, as if noone here buys a car based on price?

[K1W1]

Volkswagen or any other manufacturer are not going to drop prices just because some other manufacturers might drop their price,

Which I guess is the attitude they are displaying in wanting $600+ for Bluetooth integration when most other manufacturers now include it for free even on low spec vehicles. When I can buy a Bluetooth dongle for a PC retail for $10 you can't tell me that the price VAG want is anything other than gouging the customer.

[Maverick]

Which I guess is the attitude they are displaying in wanting $600+ for Bluetooth integration when most other manufacturers now include it for free even on low spec vehicles. When I can buy a Bluetooth dongle for a PC retail for $10 you can't tell me that the price VAG want is anything other than gouging the customer.

Go and use the low spec vehicles bluetooth and after that use the VW/Skoda kits and you can't compare them as they are worlds apart. The VW/Skoda kits integrate fully into the car and work with the head unit, the MFD and other parts of the car which very few other manufacturers do. All of this costs a lot of money to develop, produce and support and personally I don't see any problems with paying $6-800 for a fully integrated bluetooth solution.

Nothing is stopping you from installing a $20 bluetooth kit from ebay and having the same functionality and quality as those installed in those low spec cars.

[Maverick]

I'm sure Mazda very well do have the resources, in Japan they spec out cars with a lot of options we never see here, GPS integrated units have been around a long time in most Jap spec cars of any make. The choice with the cheap and quick unit was because it comes standard in a 25k car. No matter how good the RNS unit is (and it is good), there comes a point where charging an exorbitant cost as an option doesn't happen anymore, VWs etc are not a BMW or Audi and in their market segment they can't act like they are. It's only really here we get reamed by Euro car pricing, in the US VW Jettas are cheaper than a Mazda 6...

Take a look at Mazda/Ford/General Motors etc and you will see their head unit development consists of creating a myrid of different head units from different manufacturers with limited integration into the car and no consistent interfaces. The RNS 510 works across all the vehicles from VW/Skoda/Seat and has only two variants (a square shape and rounded shape).

And you're right VW are not BMW or Audi and their price reflects this with much better value for money. The sat nav from BMW costs around $5000 and it's a similar amount from Mercedes without the same features. Pricing of cars in the US can't be compared to here, the market is different, the taxes are different and it's a much larger market. Australia has so much red tape that adds to the cost of importing cars which is why they are so expensive. Look at pricing in the UK, it's not far off Australian pricing because of taxes etc.

4 yrs ago these units were relevant at that price, but now they need to keep up with the price of technology, or just include it. The fact that Skoda are now going to put the RNS310 in standard in a lot of models shows this is happening. The next outcry will be the map update, and yes we do get reamed by Sensis here, but not as much anymore.

4 years ago the RNS 510 wasn't out, the MFD2 was and it was the same price with a lot less technology. The satnav option won't drop much in price but you will get more for your dollar over time.

^This makes no sense to me, Skoda/VAG are about to do it here, its not like we pay the $10k ABS brakes used to be, technology gets cheaper over time. I'm not sure why you are defending this so much, as if noone here buys a car based on price?

Volkswagen and Skoda are not going to cut prices for map upgrades "to get more sales" because this doesn't sell cars. Just like you don't see Volkswagen cutting prices just because another manufacturer decides to drop prices and take a hit. They have said time and time again that it's not profitable long term and you end up cutting your own throat which you can see from the many car manufacturers in trouble around the world. As you said ABS has become cheaper over time and as I said volume is what will see map prices drop.

[K1W1]

Go and use the low spec vehicles bluetooth and after that use the VW/Skoda kits and you can't compare them as they are worlds apart. The VW/Skoda kits integrate fully into the car and work with the head unit, the MFD and other parts of the car which very few other manufacturers do. All of this costs a lot of money to develop, produce and support and personally I don't see any problems with paying $6-800 for a fully integrated bluetooth solution.

We are getting OT here but it's a shame that with all this wonderful technology they can't make a Bluetooth kit that works with the three spoke steering wheel on the manual RS.