PARK RIDGE, N.J. -- Hertz announced a number of upcoming upgrades to its GPS navigation system, NeverLost.

Upgrades include a full-coverage map database from Navigation Technologies. The improved database includes all named roads in the U.S. and detailed coverage of all major metropolitan areas in the U.S. and Canada.

Hertz customers renting a vehicle equipped with NeverLost will receive detailed route guidance to any programmable address in the U.S. and Canada. The number of road segments and miles of navigable roads covered by NeverLost in the U.S. and Canada will be doubled to 20 million and 4 million, respectively.

The NeverLost navigation system is currently available at 400 U.S. and Canadian rental locations, on approximately 40,000 Hertz rental vehicles across 25 car classes. The upgrades will be implemented during the second half of 2003, beginning in August.

NeverLost currently enables Hertz customers traveling anywhere in the U.S. and Canada to receive onboard driving directions to specific addresses and destinations, including local restaurants, gas stations, hotels, emergency services and tourist attractions. Renters can use their NeverLost unit anywhere in the U.S. and Canada without software changes.

The NeverLost location directory will be almost doubled to 1.3 million pre-programmed destinations, including 70,000 hotels, 65,000 gas stations and 470,000 restaurants. Restaurants can be selected by criteria including "nearest," "city" or by "cuisine type."

Other upgrades include a:

* "AAA Tour Book" with ratings for hotels, restaurants and local attractions.

* Travel assistance directory with airline telephone numbers, radio station guides, and telephone numbers for local weather and traffic.

* Local attractions directory with pre-programmed addresses for popular leisure and business destinations in more than 100 markets.

* "Previous Destinations" directory enabling customers to mark a particular current location as a routable destination.

"Since Hertz first experimented with NeverLost in 1995, our goal has been to provide the latest GPS mapping and related technologies, giving car rental customers the best possible onboard navigation service," said Brian Kennedy, Hertz executive vice president of marketing and sales. "The latest upgrades to NeverLost reaffirm Hertz's commitment to onboard GPS technology to help make driving away from home as seamless and easy as possible."