2023-07-02 17:32:00
Whether it’s with its ads, its strategy or its new design, at the moment, Renault regularly makes me say: “But haven’t we seen that before?” “.
True luxury will always be space. This is the slogan chosen by Renault for the new generation of Espace. This formula echoes the slogan “What if true luxury was space?” », used for previous generations of the vehicle.
These days, it is apparently with the old pubs that we make some of the news at Renault. At the end of 2020, the Diamond had squarely brought out of the cupboards the famous “cars to live” and the music “Johnny and Mary” by Robert Palmer, an association which had hit the mark in the 80s. The music had been used once more in 2021 for Arkana.
Arnaud Belloni, Renault’s marketing manager, had qualified the title of Proust’s madeleine for the brand, which was then going through a difficult period, shaken by the fall of Carlos Ghosn and huge financial losses. Arriving in mid-2020, Luca de Meo was working on the group’s recovery plan.
And generally, when you want to relaunch yourself, the best strategy is to summon up a glorious past. A strong wind of nostalgia is thus blowing over Renault. Starting in , then in marketing. The “Renaulution” began with a new logo… a reinterpretation of the one imagined in 1972 by the artist Vasarely.
And nostalgia will be in the range, with the announced big return of the 4L and R5! During the presentation of the prototype of the 5, the Losange wrote this: “The soul of a brand comes from its roots. Without sinking into the past, it must remain attached to it and draw inspiration from it to rediscover the spirit of the glorious times”. It mightn’t be clearer.
Everything is recycled, good ads, vehicles that have worked… and successful ideas. Luca de Meo was clearly inspired by the recipes that worked throughout his professional career. He has thus greatly worked on the revival of the Fiat 500, the commercial cardboard that we know, and which has even succeeded in its transformation into electric. The DG has therefore validated a similar project at Losange and obviously hopes for similar popular success with the new look R5.
No question of doing only neo-retro, which will be reserved for city models. For the rest of the range, the design will change. After the era of curves carried by Laurens van den Acker, curves that had ended up going around in circles, place the return of an angular era. To breathe new life into its design, Renault has poached Gilles Vidal, the man who reawakened Peugeot design and made the 3008 a goose that layed golden eggs.
A success that seems to have inspired Renault a lot, to the point that its new compact SUV, the Austral, has a furious air of 3008 in its silhouette! One wonders if Gilles Vidal had any words on this subject when he arrived in his new office. But we hope not, because the best to copy Gilles Vidal is Gilles Vidal!
We were able to see him during the presentation of his first creation for Renault, the Rafale coupé SUV. With its shapes drawn more with a rule, it exudes a good air of Peugeot. Admittedly, the Lion did not already have the monopoly of the angles, this one had for example already followed the tendency Lexus. But many features and details of the Rafale evoke the 408.
Body creases on the sides and along the hood are similar. The same goes for Renault’s new grille/headlights/light signature assembly. This aesthetic shift had been announced by the Scénic concept, whose rims are very similar to those of the 408. Gilles Vidal nevertheless thought of giving a nod to Seat, Luca de Meo’s former box, by using a handwritten font for the model name on the tailgate.
That designers have gimmicks is normal, following all Laurens van den Acker, carried out work on the curves that he brought from his previous experience at Mazda. But that the new models are too reminiscent of that of the main competitor, it is more embarrassing. Renault is better than that, and Gilles Vidal is certainly capable of doing it.
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