This makes it clear why it is no longer an MPV
At the upcoming IAA in Munich, which starts on September 5, the next and fifth generation of the Renault Scénic will be released: an electric crossover that breaks with what the Scénic has always been so far. Just look at the previous generations of the model.
The Renault Scénic started in 1996 mainly as a more compact alternative to the Renault Espace: it was a space car, but with slightly smaller exterior dimensions. A cocoon car, Renault would call the preceding concept, where the shape of the car’s exterior was mainly a result of the space the five occupants would need.
The final production model was of course less strangely shaped than the concept, but this was still clearly reflected in it: the first Scénic was a relatively high car with a lot of glass, of which there were not many on the market at the time of its launch. The ‘midi-MPV’ already existed – think of the Nissan Prairie, for example – but the segment was not common. Only later would the Volkswagen Touran and Opel Meriva of this world see the light of day.
The success of the first
By the time those models were available (2003), Renault could already unveil the second generation of its Scénic – although it could have waited a little longer. Thanks in part to a rigorous facelift in 1999, in which the Scénic received a considerably different front, the car did well – at least in the Netherlands – until it disappeared from the market. Every year, (very) more than 12,000 copies were registered with the Netherlands.
Could the second generation match that success? No, but it was once again a relatively popular model, which was also joined by a second body variant: the Grand Scénic, which was available with seven seats and was therefore closer to the Espace. Renault had a distinctive design language in the mid-2000s and it was also reflected well on the Scénic. Just like the Mégane of that period, the car had a kind of ‘poster’ under its rear window – quite unusual for an MPV – but was nevertheless initially in great demand.
MPV-with-ass. Admittedly a less pronounced example than that of the Mégane, but there was also one on the Scénic.
Renault’s design language did its job and the second Scénic took over from the first in 2003 with a fluid movement. In 2004, the first full year in which the car was sold, almost 15,000 (!) copies found homes. In the years that followed there were approximately 2,000 fewer. About 12,000, 10,000, 8,000, 6,000… and then it was 2009. Time for the third.
If you can’t beat them…
Did he turn the tide? Certainly not. The third generation Renault Scénic was again available as a regular and as a ‘Grand’, with the regular having inward-flaring taillights and the Grand Scénic having outward-flaring taillights, a characteristic difference. Something for everyone, so? No, because there were now cars like the Nissan Qashqai (2006) and the Volkswagen Tiguan (2007). And we all know what that caused…
It is therefore not surprising that Renault will soon start putting its Scénic badge on a crossover. The fourth generation of the Scénic (2016 – 2022), which was slightly more crossover than pure MPV, could not reverse the downward trend started by the third generation – and so it is time for something new, with which we will meet in a few days at the IAA in Munich. Until then!
Above the Scénic, below the third-generation Grand Scénic.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl