The relationship comes on the back of NXT’s successful exhibition at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) show in Detroit, Michigan in early March where NXT demonstrated the superior sound characteristics of SurfaceSound technology in a Mercedes S600 and Dodge Caravan.
NXT’s agreement with Fiat involves the implementation of NXT SurfaceSound technology in the Lancia Lybra, a 4 door executive saloon. NXT engineers, working in close association with their Fiat counter-parts, will look at implementing both direct driven speaker units in the door trim and instrument panel as well as other modular units, which because of their slim size (less than an inch in depth), can be placed in areas of the car not available to traditional speaker systems. Development of the demonstration vehicle is well advanced in the USA and, following local testing, the vehicle will be sent to Turin for further review.
NXT CEO David Pearson commented, Fiat is one of the World’s largest automotive manufacturers and last year alone produced more than 2.7 million cars. As the latest licensee of NXT technology Fiat is powerful proof of the compelling nature of our business case to automotive producers.
Generating revenues of over 48 billion Euros per annum, Fiat is one of the World’s largest industrial groups with operations in 64 countries and over 220,000 employees. It owns a number of automotive marques including Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari. The company has established itself at the leading edge of technological innovation, which can best be seen through their success in the field of telematics.
