Renault Buys 40% of French Magazine Publisher
The old adage, life is a journey, is set to take on a completely different meaning in just a few short years’ time. Gone will be the days of frantically responding to your emails on your morning commute or of playing I-spy on those long, holiday drives (if you could coax your kids off their tablets). Renault has seen the future and it looks like a self-driving car filled with a bunch of “motorists” driving themselves to distraction with boredom.
In preparation for this automated apocalypse, Renault has purchased a forty percent stake in the gloss magazine mogul responsible for such publications as Challenges, Historia and Sciences et Avenir. The idea (it seems) is to begin amassing a trove of proprietary multimedia to serve as enroute entertainment, interactive activities and event-seeking navigation systems.
Renault has declined to say how much this forty-percent stake has cost them, which puts the smart money on: a lot. As one of the few who have put their money where their mouths are (by committing to fully autonomous cars by 2021) Renault has a large stake in the success of this venture.
How bizarre would it be if a prime consideration when purchasing an automobile came to include its wholly owned entertainment programs? Would you pass on a brilliant car because the brand could not offer you Downton Abbey or Top Gear for your “driving” pleasure? Would you skimp on the leather seats in favour of the sports package? What if your favourite blogger/guru/master chef had an exclusive contract with a different brand?
Don’t scoff. This revolution is already well underway. Forget Netflix, entertainment channels such as Amazon Prime and Playstation Vue are fully fledged, profitable enterprises whose parent companies originally displayed no overlap with the broader media stream. Yet look at them today. At this rate, we would not be surprised to see Amazon announce its foray into electric cars or see a Playstation branded Formula 1 racer.
The question becomes: what would you do for a car whose auto-chauffeur knows where all the Michelin restaurants are hidden? Test drive a Renault today and get onboard with the entertainment revolution.
