The Renault Scenic has been a long-time bastion of the European family car market. DATAportl estimates that almost 400,000 Renault Scenics have shipped since 2016. So, the introduction of a new electric version of the car could have significant impact on EV volumes.
Harman announced on March 5th, 2023 that its Harman Kardon brand audio system is being used in the car. The “Harman Kardon premium sound system features an upgraded setup of nine high-performance speakers, including single voice coil woofers in the front doors for improved performance in upper mid-range frequencies and an External Coupled Subwoofer (ECS) that reduces weight and volume of the subwoofer enclosure while delivering dynamic and low-distortion bass reproduction. Combined with an 8-channel DSP digital amplifier with a total output of 410 watts”.
The Harman Kardon system has also been used in several of Renaults other car models including Austral, Espace and Megane E-Tech electric. It integrates advanced audio functions including Vehicle Speed Compensation, Virtual Center, and QLS (QuantumLogic® Surround) algorithm for immersive audio. And all this has been curated by French music icon Jean-Michel Jarre.
As with most premium audio in vehicles, the Harman Kardon upgrade is not available as standard on all Scenic version, however Harman said “The Harman Kardon premium sound system is standard on iconic models in all markets, and an option on both esprit Alpine (excluding the UK), and techno versions (excluding France and the UK).” So it does seem to be well spread across the range.
Google is also heavily involved as a partner, as discussed here. Google Assistant voice control is enabled for such things as internal lighting, as well as Android Automotive OS 12 enabling app downloads, journey planning, weather, etc.
Our assumption is that Qualcomm continue to partner with Renault to enable the Google based infotainment solution for this vehicle, based on this announcement we believe that the Qualcomm Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platform is being used. However, this is to be confirmed.
