Skip to main content

TomTom to cut costs and staff

TomTom has announced it is targeting substantial cost savings in 2012 through a reorganisation and reducing some 10 per cent of the workforce. A company statement said that its research and development activities will be regrouped in ten product units - maps, traffic, navigation, automotive systems, PNDs, fleet services, fitness, mobile, POIs and speedcams - in a drive to increase development efficiency and reduce time to market.
April 17, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSS1692 TomTom has announced it is targeting substantial cost savings in 2012 through a reorganisation and reducing some 10 per cent of the workforce. A company statement said that its research and development activities will be regrouped in ten product units - maps, traffic, navigation, automotive systems, PNDs, fleet services, fitness, mobile, POIs and speedcams - in a drive to increase development efficiency and reduce time to market.

At the same time, the number of full time jobs at TomTom will be cut by 457, which accounts for approximately 10% of the total workforce. 255 roles will be made redundant, half of which are in The Netherlands, with the remainder being achieved through attrition. A restructuring charge of €14 million will be booked in Q4 2011 in relation to the redundancies and rationalisation of office space.

"The new structure brings more transparency and accountability; makes it easier to make innovation choices and will reduce our time to market,” said TomTom CEO Harold Goddijn who confirmed the company’s target to achieve cash savings of approximately €50 million in 2012 compared to its previously announced guidance of €540 million of OPEX and €80 million of CAPEX in 2011. “The majority of the savings will be achieved in operating expenses, and will be most visible in general and administrative and marketing expenses. A larger proportion of R&D expenditure will be allocated to growth areas, our strategic assets (maps, traffic intelligence and navigation) and new initiatives.”

Related Content

  • January 30, 2012
    Travel information is heading towards smartphones
    Travel information services are undergoing a step change as rapid increase in sales of smartphones brings ITS technology to consumers' fingertips. A virtuous circle of expanding capability is under way in traffic and travel information services, promising much for drivers and reduction of road congestion. A recent rapid rise in sales of smartphones has boosted numbers of vehicles carrying GPS enabled devices and so brought expansion of traffic data available for analysis and dissemination. Greater numbers o
  • July 16, 2012
    TomTom Maps to power MapQuest’s mobile application
    TomTom has announced a partnership with MapQuest, wholly owned by AOL, to power the company’s mobile app with TomTom maps. Available for Android and iOS, MapQuest’s free apps provide access to a wireless version of the well-known MapQuest website.
  • July 6, 2012
    Fleet management systems likely to become standard fitting in the Americas
    According to a new research report, Fleet management in the Americas, from Berg Insight, the number of fleet management systems deployed in commercial vehicle fleets in North America was 2.8 million in Q4-2011. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.9 per cent, this number is expected to reach 5.9 million by 2016. In Latin America, the number of installed fleet management systems is expected to increase from 1.3 million in Q4-2011, growing at a CAGR of 16.6 per cent to reach 2.8 million in 20
  • May 18, 2012
    Commercial telematics shipments to exceed 6.4 million by 2016
    A new report from ABI Research predicts that global shipments of commercial telematics equipment will increase from 1.94 million in 2011 to 6.43 million in 2016. While North America is still the leading market, Asia-Pacific is set for strong growth driven by economic expansion, a booming automotive industry, and urgent requirements to use increasingly scarce resources more efficiently.