Renault to offer cut-price Sat Nav
February 6, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Any one who has glanced at the options list of a new car lately will be sure to have noticed how ridiculous the pricing of integrated Satellite Navigation units can be.
Now, Renault is set to change all that with the new Clio model to offer the option for only 500-euro ($980 AUD).
The system is part of Renault’s “navigation for all” project which, as the name suggests, aims to make satellite navigation devices accessible to all new car buyers by significantly reducing the price.
The system, which was co-developed with Dutch firm Tom-Tom will quickly be extended from the Clio across Renault’s range starting with the Megane range next year.
Renault does not expect the device to compete with its more expensive Carminat system, which is offered on its higher-priced vehicles.
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I checked Renault’s Australian site, but couldn’t see any “new Clio model”.
You still have to wonder why they are even that much when you can buy a portable sat nav for under 200 bucks these days.
ABC, they didnt mention a ‘new’ clio did they?
Its not hard to see where these manufacturers are making their money… Couldnt imagine how little $$$ they get these units for….
its about time someone started to offer Sat Nav at a lower price, although it could still be even lower. Volvo is one of the worst at overcharging for satnav with the option on most models a whopping $4175. When you consider a C30 starts at $35K, asking an extra 12% for satnav is just plain insulting.
haha wow bargain at $1000.
Im happy my car already came with Sat nav.
I really don’t understand why people would even fork out a grand for sat-nav when you can buy one for less than 300 and actually choose which type also. Many factory-fitted sat-navs are of poor quality and you are thus stuck with it! I also can’t see it increasing the attractability of a car when coming to sell it used – so it’s money down the drain in my opinion.
Sounds like a bargain!! $1k for a $300 tom tom
External GPS are good, but ruin the look of a new car. I would much rather pay $3k and have the GPS inbuilt into the dash, making it more convenient and aesthetically cleaner. Also, you don’t have to worry about your GPS getting stolen.
I saw a Merc C200 with an external GPS tacked onto the windscreen and it just screamed ‘cheap’ to me. If you’re forking out $50k for a car, what’s another $4k for sat nav. Hell, i did it and i’m not exactly swimming in money.
You could get a 4.3″ satnav with the sensitive SirfIII chipset for $299. Why can’t car companies put that in the dashboard and charge $399 for it?
To Dlr1, you think $4175 is a lot? I think BMW’s (lowly thought of) iDrive is about $7,000! I could have a (much more technical and intricate) computer for a third of that! I know it is a very intricate piece of technology but the amount of them they must knock out, it doesn’t seem worth it. Saying that, I have paid it before and the updated version is actually very nice to use. Off topic though. Good job Renault, I hate wires going everywhere and that will be the main advantage here.
Kim, 100% agree with you. I hate the look of the tachy GPS units seen in 50% of cars these days. I much prefer it to be built into the dash for a clean and more sophisticated look.
As much as I know, Renault don’t even offer satnav as an option in Australia. I don’t they sell enough here to be bothered to launch the Carminat System for Australia which is sad. The new Laguna would look much nicer with the wood grain dash that comes with the intergrated Carminat System. I wonder if they’ll launch this in Aus though, cause we do have Tom-Tom here…right?
Just rang Renault its $799 plus fitting, i am going in on Monday to get it fitted. My previous vehicles have had sat nav and it cost me over $4000.00 every time. This is well worth the money as my only two current options are to fit one to the windscreen or by an after market sound system that does not interface with the cars dash.