Renault-Nissan, Microsoft to develop connected cars

The Renault-Nissan alliance and Microsoft Corporation have joined hands to develop connected cars, they said in a joint press release.

The cars worked upon by the carmaker - IT giant alliance will be serviced by Microsoft Azure. Azure supports multiple operating systems, programming languages and tools, which will provide a common platform service to both the brands.

The companies expect that the new services will augment customer experience through advanced navigation, predictive maintenance, and vehicle centric services, monitoring of car features, and external mobile experience, they said in the release. 

“A car is becoming increasingly connected, intelligent and personal,” Ogi Redzic, Renault-Nissan Alliance senior vice-president, Connected Vehicles and Mobility Services, said. 

“Partnering with Microsoft allows us to accelerate the development of the associated key technologies needed to enable scenarios our customers want and build all-new ones they haven’t even imagined. We aim to become the provider of connected mobility for everyone with one single global platform.” he added.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is planning to launch over 10 vehicles with autonomous driving technology by 2020. 

“While the connected car experience is in its infancy, we believe there’s so much potential to dramatically change the industry. We are partnering to accelerate Renault-Nissan’s mobile and cloud strategies and unlock new experiences for their customers,” said Jean-Philippe Courtois, executive vice president and president, Microsoft Global Sales, and Marketing and Operations.