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).
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.