Bénéteau and Peugeot launch the Sea Drive Concept

Mutual influences between automobile and leisure marine industry have become increasingly widespread, resulting into multiple contaminations and mixtures both in terms of design and technology.

A sort of osmosis which has not always succeeded in going beyond a simple aesthetical effect. Viceversa, sometimes, the strange union has resulted into some interesting innovations.

At the Salon Nautique International de Paris two French brands, global leaders in their respective industries (marine and automobile), have showed to the public the result of a unique combination of their innovative technological know-how. We’re talking about Bénéteau and Peugeot, which have moved their general headquarters to Paris to unveil the Sea Drive Concept.

It’s a pioneering boat steering station,  developed from the original concept of the Peugeot I-Cockpit, which integrates Ship Control technology, recently developed by Bénéteau. The result goes far beyond mere aesthetics.

From the design point of view, the product fully reflects the i-Cockpit concept that the French carmaker has recently installed in its 3008 and 5008 SUVs. With a small, compact steering wheel and a large 17-inch multifunction display , the ergonomics are designed to provide customers with intuitive driving.

The stated objective is to translate all the aspects, including the technical ones, of the driving experience into sensorial terms.

Part of this new made-in-Peugeot vision, Ship Control technology is the result of the Advance Monitoring System (AMS), introduced by Bénéteau and rolled out for the first time in 2017 on board the new Gran Turismo 50.

Equipped with a multifunction system, this user-friendly system provides simple centralized access to all the boat’s functions, including lights, air conditioning, navigation systems, fuel consumption and performance.

In the Sea Drive Concept, the Ship Control system expresses all its strengths through an eye-line screen for instant, permanent control.

Showing us the result of the co-operation between the two brands in Paris yesterday, Luca Bracaleon, the new General Manager of Bénéteau, was clearly enthusiastic about the Sea Drive Concept : ” Innovation – said Brancaleon – is a hallmark of our way of doing business in the leisure marine industry. So, we were very proud and happy to accept the Peugeot’s proposal to work on a common project. We’re both pioneers in our fields, so it was natural to work together and carry out this exciting experience“.

This enthusiasm is shared by Jean-Philippe Imparato, General Manager of Peugeot, who stressed that the i-Cockpit is now symbolic of Peugeot’s innovation. ” It revolutionizes the interior of our vehicles – claimed Imparato – by re-inventing the driving experience. We’ re proud to see how this vision adapted to other worlds and to work with a firm as prestigious as Bénéteau in a field so different from ours”.

The presence of Annete Roux, owner of Bénéteau and icon of international yachting industry, was an additional evidence of the strategic value of the co-operation between the two brands.