MERCEDES-Benz claims to have taken the lead in the increasingly competitive global market for in-car navigation systems by unveiling what it calls the Intelligent Traffic Guidance System.

The system, developed in Tokyo with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone and the Advanced Traffic Information Service, uses live information from the city's police monitoring equipment to help drivers avoid traffic jams. It also provides them with weather forecasts, information on parking space availability, train timetables and news bulletins.

The company is claiming that drivers can cut journey times through the city's heavily-congested streets by as much as two hours. After a one-off registration fee of £175, subscribers pay a monthly charge of £108.