Renault Australia is looking to bring online-based connected functions to its vehicles in the coming year, the French brand’s local boss says.
Speaking with CarExpert at the local launch of the updated Arkana crossover coupe, Renault Australia’s managing director Glen Sealey said connectivity and remote functionality will be rolled out locally in the coming “8 to 12 months” – potentially beginning with the Megane E-Tech EV.
“Connectivity is something we’re looking at across the range for Renault, and we will see connectivity [in Australia] in the not too distant future” Mr Sealey said.
100s of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
“For the Megane E-Tech, I think connectivity is important. But it’s a funny balance because we’ve got some customers, particularly the older customers, who don’t want connectivity – as funny as that sounds, they don’t want to share their information.”
“So we need to balance that out… our priority was to get the car to market, rather than wait for connectivity. But we will have connectivity at some stage – I would say in the next 8 to 12 months,” Mr Sealey added.
Beyond connected services, Mr Sealey also said Renault Australia is looking to add other tech features not currently available in the single-spec Australian model; including the larger 12.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, as well as the Level 2 semi-autonomous driving system which combines adaptive cruise control and lane centring.
Mr Sealey noted that the larger OpenR infotainment system – running a Google-powered interface – would be tied in with the connected vehicle functionality, while the semi-autonomous function requires some hurdles to be cleared in the calibration process.
“We may have some issues due to our traffic sign recognition, but we have to iron that out. One of the issues we have for all European brands is they’re readjusting a lot of the electrical architectures in time for [the Vehicle General Safety Regulation] which is a European regulation,” Mr Sealey said.
The European Vehicle General Safety Regulation – or GSR – is a new legal framework in the European Union mandating a range of safety features in new vehicles. According to the EU, the new mandated features are expected to save “over 25,000 lives and avoid at least 140,000 serious injuries by 2038”.
All vehicles are now required to have intelligent speed assistance, driver attention monitoring, reversing detection with camera or sensors, event data recorders and an emergency stop signal. Additionally, cars and vans are required to have autonomous emergency braking and lane keeping systems – note, some of these were already mandated.
The new regulations are part of the reason why brands like Hyundai and Kia have been bringing out the widely criticised speed limit assist systems which default to on each time the vehicle is started, in line with European rules.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
