Garmin Earns Seventh-Straight NMEA Manufacturer Of The Year Award

Garmin International Inc., considered to be the world’s largest and most innovative marine electronics manufacturer, announced Tuesday that it was named Manufacturer of the Year for the seventh consecutive year by members of the National Marine Electronics Association at the NMEA annual business meeting and awards banquet held Sept. 23 in Orlando, Fla. 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.

Between large navigation displays from Garmin, seamless audio controls from Fusion and much more, Garmin products are utilized frequently on performance boats such as this DCB M37R Widebody catamaran powered by twin Mercury Racing 450R engines. Photo courtesy DCB

“We are incredibly humbled to again be named the NMEA Manufacturer of the Year and for so many of our products to be recognized with top accolades in their categories,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of global consumer sales. “These awards go beyond the products; they represent Garmin’s steadfast commitment to excellence and reliability among our industry colleagues and customers, and are a true testament to the work and dedication of our entire team.”

Garmin also was awarded five NMEA Product of Excellence awards, which were voted on by NMEA dealers who specialize in installing marine electronics, qualified NMEA technicians and fellow marine electronics manufacturers, in the following categories.

• Multi-Function Display – GPSMAP 8616xsv; this 16-inch chartplotter with a full HD in-plane switching display with multi-touch control comes preloaded with the latest BlueChart g3 coastal cartography and LakeVü g3 maps with integrated Navionics data and Auto Guidance2 technology.

• Autopilot – 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.

• Safety Device – GPSMAP 86sci; with Garmin’s premium marine handheld with inReach capabilities mariners can stay in touch globally—no matter how far offshore they may be—and if necessary, trigger an SOS to a 24/7 staffed global emergency response coordination center via the 100% global Iridium satellite network.

• Multimedia Entertainment – Fusion Apollo RA770; this marine entertainment system was the world’s first touchscreen marine stereo with Apple AirPlay, built-in Wi-Fi and network audio sharing capabilities.

• Marine Application, utility – ActiveCaptain; a free all-in-one mobile app for mariners, ActiveCaptain 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.

In all, 20 products from a wide range of manufacturers garnered top honors in three separate award competitions at the 2021 NMEA Marine Electronics Conference & Expo, held last week at the Orlando Doubletree Universal Hotel in Florida. NMEA members cast their votes online in 18 categories for the Product of Excellence Awards while a panel of independent judges named winners in both the NMEA Technology Award and Best New Product contests (see all the winners in the NMEA press release).

“On behalf of the NMEA Board of Directors, staff, and membership body, we congratulate all 2021 award winners,” said Mark Reedenauer, NMEA president and executive director. “The entrant count for the Best New Product Award exceeded our expectations, which sends the message that there is extreme value for manufacturers to introduce new products at the NMEA conference, where only the trade can view these new innovations. We will continue to improve the awards for 2022 by adding categories as the industry evolves and we get feedback from the membership.”

Earlier in the week, Garmin also was named a Top 10 Most Innovative Marine Company for 2021 by Soundings Trade Only. The award honors forward-thinking companies that are transforming the future of the marine industry through new initiatives, processes, technologies and more.

Garmin Earns Seventh-Straight NMEA Manufacturer Of The Year Award

Address

Quick Links