Microsoft is rebooting its push to sell software for cars with a new set of programs and services in a bid to keep up with rivals such as Google and Apple that are expanding in auto technology. "We're not getting into self-driving cars ourselves but we can be an important element of it by providing the platform," said Microsoft's business development chief Peggy Johnson, in an interview. The Renault-Nissan alliance signed an agreement in September with Microsoft to work on car technology. The companies said Thursday that Renault-Nissan will be the first customer for Microsoft's Connected Vehicle Platform, which provides carmakers with a set of services built on Microsoft's Azure cloud.