Sat-nav: A great deal at half the price...

The most desirable in-car technology for UK car-buyers is satellite navigation. That is until they find out how much it costs.

Typically costing £1,500 as an option, sat-nav is the must-have in-car tech at the moment. But, according to a JD Power survey, high price is the main barrier to car buyers choosing to specify satellite navigation systems.

Although 75 per cent of respondents initially stated they would be interested in in-car navigation as an option, this soon changed when prices were revealed - sat-nav fell from first to 12th most desired technology, with reverse assist becoming the most popular.

The survey also highlights that many emerging in-car technologies that consumers are aware of in the US have made much less of an impact in Europe. Systems such as blind spot detection (65 per cent) and satellite radio (44 per cent) have not penetrated the European market to the same extent as in the US.

If manufacturers continue to charge such a premium for a technology as popular as sat-nav, it seems it could represent a further opportunity for manufacturers of after-market navigation systems to take advantage.