INNOVATION

ONBOARD NAVIGATION

Navigation systems are revolutionizing driving, with real-time traffic info, GPS guidance, onboard diagnostics and radar alerts. Renault, a pioneer in the field, is making onboard navigation as intuitive as it is accessible, marketing the latest of its integrated onboard GPS systems, Carminat TomTom, at under €500 for the very first time.

A pioneer in integrated navigation systems since 1982 

In the early nineties, Renault Safrane was the first car to features an integrated navigation system
Car designers began to get interested in onboard navigation in the early 1980s. As early as 1982, Renault became a forerunner in the field with the launch of the Atlas program, in association with the research center of Télédiffusion in France. The objective was to equip vehicles with new services like traffic information and mapping. The first prototype, fitted on a Renault 20, was rudimentary but promising.

 

Four years later, Atlas was associated with the Carin and Minerve programs of Philips and Sagem, respectively, giving rise to the Carminat project. The aim was to equip vehicles with a guidance, traffic info and onboard diagnostic system. Carminat continued evolving and, at end-1995, Renault sold a limited series Safrane fitted with an integrated navigation system (without traffic info).

Carminat, Renault’s approach to onboard navigation 

Once launched, Carminat made astonishingly rapid progress. “Carminat Navigation Informée” – the first version of the system with traffic info – went to market in 2001. Four years later, Renault launched “Carminat Navigation et Communication", developed using Nissan expertise as part of the Alliance.

 

A concentrate of technologies, this Carminat system featured a top-quality radio and MP3-compatible CD player/stacker, a route planner, a Bluetooth kit and a large color screen. For driver comfort and passenger pleasure. All that remained was to make the technology more accessible – which is what Renault has done today with Carminat TomTom.

Carminat TomTom, the first integrated navigation system for under €500 

Carminat TomTom* is Renault’s latest GPS navigation system, developed as part of an exclusive partnership between Renault and TomTom.

 

Easy to install and user-friendly, this all-new system is fitted on New Clio and the entire New Mégane range. The advantages of Carminat TomTom include a 5.8-inch color screen for intuitive reading, a powerful and reliable GPS signal, radar alerts and real-time traffic information. The system also displays radio settings and MP3 music lists, making it the multimedia focal point of the vehicle.

 

In addition, Carminat TomTom can be updated and personalized on the web. Simply by connecting to the Renault Multimedia website or using TomTom Home software, customers can enhance their navigation system with new services, plan routes and, for globetrotters, order maps for other countries.

 

* : Since Carminat TomTom is not available in all countries, we advise you to check your Renault country website.

Renault and onboard navigation: key figures 

  • 1982: launch of Atlas project, precursor of the Carminat system 
  • 1995: launch of first Carminat system
  • 2006: 500,000 Carminat systems sold
  • 2009: arrival of Carminat TomTom.