Garmin Ltd. and Navigon AG announced this afternoon that they have agreed to terms which will see Garmin to acquire the privately held German navigation company. Barring any snags in the regulatory approval process, the deal will have Navigon operating as a subsidiary of Garmin, strengthening their respective positions in the mobile space.

“This acquisition is a great complement to Garmin’s existing automotive and mobile business. Navigon has invested significantly in the European automotive OEM business, and we feel that we can rapidly expand our automotive OEM footprint and capabilities through this transaction. With Navigon, we are also acquiring one of the top-selling navigation applications for the iPhone and Android platforms – something that we expect will help drive revenue for the combined company going forward.” – Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO.

We may not see this shake up the US scene as much as it does in other countries. We’ll be interested in seeing this play out in markets where customers don’t have access to turn-by-turn directions with Google Maps Navigation.