Early years in media
Benoit Charette started in 1986 as a newsreader at CFLV 1370 in Valleyfield. After working as a physical education teacher at Collège Bourget in Rigaud from 1987 to 1989, he returned to media as a sports news writer at Radio-Canada, from 1990 to 1992.
In 1991, cars became his profession: he took charge of the English-Canadian and American editions of the car book Carnet de route. It was the start of a career that would cover every platform: radio, television, print, publishing and the web.
Radio and the auto industry
In 1994, he began on automotive radio alongside Daniel Héraud at CKAC. The following year, he took over a two-hour automotive show on his own, broadcast across the Radio-Média network. In 1996, he published his first car columns in the Hebdos Transcontinental weeklies.
Since 2001, he has been an automotive consultant and expert for Radio-Canada, analyzing the industry on radio and television in French and in English, and writing a weekly automotive column for Radio-Canada Windsor.
L'Annuel de l'automobile
Since 2002, Benoit Charette has been owner, publisher and editor-in-chief of L'Annuel de l'automobile. With about twelve specialized journalists, he has made it a reference of more than 700 pages: every model on the market, road tests, features, and reports on new technologies, prototypes and industry trends.
Over the years, the book has become a true record of the automobile in Quebec.
Used cars
He was also publisher and editor-in-chief of L'Annuel de l'auto d'occasion, Quebec's used car guide, published by Trader Corporation from 2004 to 2006, then independently from 2011 to 2018 and again in 2023, with prices, specifications and recalls, in collaboration with CAA-Québec.
Trade press
From 2014 to 2021, he was the Quebec correspondent for Automotive News, one of North America's leading auto industry publications. He also wrote new and used car reviews for Auto123.com and Autohebdo.net, in French and in English.
Television
From 2012 to 2017, he was an automotive columnist and road tester on RPM and RPM+ (V Télé). From 2011 to 2017, he co-hosted Les légendes de la route with José Gaudet on Historia, 20 episodes comparing iconic models with their modern versions.
Since 2018, he has co-hosted Passion Autos on RDS with Yohan Leduc and Simon Dion-Viens, a show about classic cars and the people who love them.
Radio, always
Since 2020, he has hosted Ça tient la route, a weekly automotive show and podcast on the Cogeco network.
On radio, television, the web and in print, his goal remains the same: to make the automotive world accessible, interesting and relevant, whether the subject is a family car, a classic, or the profound changes now transforming the industry.