Audi, Disney partner to reportedly create ‘new media type’ for self-driving cars

When, or if, self-driving cars commercially make it to markets, users will for sure have a lot of free time during the ride. For this, Audi and Disney are partnering together to create ‘new type of media’ for autonomous cars.

Though none of the companies have officially announced the partnership, in a recent interview with CNET’s Roadshow, the automobile manufacturer Audi hinted that they might be partnering with The Walt Disney Company to create a new form of media together that will be designed with autonomous vehicles in mind.

Audi’s digital strategy head Nils Wollny teased that it would be a ‘new media type’ that would take ‘full advantage’ of its vehicle-based nature and technological progress. Wollny also hinted that it might reflect the travel times for vehicles. He suggested that the partnership could prove to be beneficial for rear-seat passengers before it makes it to driverless cars.

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Wollny expressed, “I’d call it a new media type that isn’t existing yet that takes full advantage of being in a vehicle. What we’ve focused on is not a pure - not at all a classic marketing partnership, [of the sort] that very often happens between automotive companies and media companies. We created something completely new together, and it’s very technologically driven.”

Wollny didn’t reveal any other specific particulars. Planning to officially disclose the details at next year’s CES 2019 in January, Wollny mentioned that there would be a ‘commercialization or business approach’ and a ‘very specific plan’, wrote Engadget.

Wollny said, “There will be a commercialization or business approach behind it [for Audi]. It’s not something where two friends come together to [start] something vague, [and say,] ‘Maybe it’s not, maybe it is.’ It’s very specific. We [Audi] have a very specific plan.”