Renault Buys Stake In Media Company To Entertain Self-Driving Car Passengers

KhodroCar - The deal calls for Renault to buy the stake in Challenges Group, a publisher that puts out a weekly economic magazine and four science and history journals, according to a news release.

As part of the deal, Challenges will work on new content that’s specifically aimed at autonomous cars, which presumably would be integrated into a robotaxi service that is being planned for the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. (Nissan itself is set to begin testing autonomous Leafs in Japan this coming March.)

Here’s how Renault described the deal: "Today, French and European commuters spend about two hours in their car every day. Claude Perdriel and Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn share the same conviction, that with the development of the connected driverless vehicle, users will have more time to spend on other activities while in the car. Together, the Challenges Group and Groupe Renault have everything that is needed to create a "lab for testing innovation” to develop new editorial content and relevant technologies.

When going from place to place – whether alone or with family or friends – we listen, look, and pay attention the world around us. This is already true of travel in today’s cars, and will be even more true in the autonomous, and driverless car of tomorrow. Each person, in his or her own vehicle, will be able to select and access information and content from the media group which will be totally dedicated to the knowledge and information."

There’s a lot of mobility-like mumbo jumbo strewn throughout the statement, but the upshot is that Renault’s preemptively investing in a media company for a driverless car it doesn’t expect to have on the road for another five years. It’s a bold move