AutoNavi announced today the English version of its nav app and human-based navigation service would be for free. It’s only one month after the Chinese version of the nav app become free.
The company is the only one in mainland China that offers English maps. Back in 2008 it started selling Engligh navigation products to cars like BMW and Audi. The English version of the nav app was previously sold for 98 yuan (about $15). Its audience are expats living in China.
Previously AutoNavi charged 30 yuan per half a year or 60 yuan per year for the human-based navigation. AutoNavi’s customer service representatives will organize a route based on a user’s location and destination and make it show on the user’s navigation app. The service is only available with higher-end vehicles which are embedded with services such as Onstar and G-book.