Renault Opens Up the ‘Car as Platform’

[surfingslovak]

The sister company seems to get it. When will Nissan follow suit?

http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2011/12/08/renault-opens-up-car-as-platform/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The device, called the R-link, will be integrated into the forthcoming Renault Clio 4 as well as the Zoe electric vehicle, according to Patrick Hoffstetter, Renault’s chief digital officer. Renault will roll it out across the full range, he said. At the Le Web conference last year, Renault’s chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, announced the company’s intention to open up the car to developers, safety considerations not withstanding.

“The car is becoming a new platform,” said Mr. Hoffstetter. He said the seven-inch device can be controlled by voice recognition or by buttons on the steering wheel. “We need help now,” he said. “We need developers to work on apps.” When it launches, there will be about 50 apps bundled with the device, mostly written by Renault. “We will open a Renault app store for people to download their own apps,” he said.

 

[Rokeby]

The sister company seems to get it...

Small correction: Renault and Nissan are hardly sister companies.

It's been ~25 years since Renault as a distinct brand left the US market.
Although we hear next to nothing about Renault in the US, in the
meantime Renault seems to have been doing good -- and apparently
profitable -- things elsewhere on the globe. In the Renault-Nissan
"alliance" which goes back to 1999, Renault is considered the "parent"
with `44% stake in Nissan, and not the other way around as might be
assumed. Diamler also has a small, ~3%, interest in Renault-Nissan.

FWIW, the Nissan Versa is built on the Renault Clio platform…
as apparently are the Fiat Punto and Citroen c4 as well.

 

[surfingslovak]

FWIW, the Nissan Versa is built on the Renault Clio platform…
as apparently are the Fiat Punto and Citroen c4 as well.

Thank you for the correction. How interesting. I'm familiar with the Clio, but I didn't realize that there was a connection to the Versa and by extension perhaps even the Leaf. I have to admit that my first car in the US was a Renault and I can see how French manufacturers (i.e. Peugeot and Renault) ruined their brand here. I always thought that their comeback via the Nissan alliance was quite clever.