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Renault is poised to scrap the next-generation Laguna and could virtually pull out of the large car market altogether, senior company sources have revealed.

Production of the current Laguna is set to end in late 2010 and the Sandouville factory that builds it will switch to building commercial vehicles from 2011, the sources told Autocar today.

Sandouville also builds the unsuccessful Vel Satis executive hatchback and the ageing Espace MPV, so it looks as if these two models will a...Read the full article

Autocar:

Renault scraps large cars

- that French scrappage scheme is really taking off.

Autocar:

sales of the newly facelifted Laguna have been much slower than Renault predicted.

Given that everyone else in the entire world predicted that the bland, faceless, soulless boat that is the new Laguna wouldn't sell at all, Renault's stupidity clearly doesn't end with their design department.

Laguna, yes.  Vel Satis, fair enough.  Espace though?

Okay, its been a little off the pace in recent years, but nothing that a bit of updating wouldn't sort out.

I will be genuinely sorry to see this one go.

Juggle the letters a little and you have the reason. Renault's large cars cr*p. Bold move though and the end of an era. I have fond memories of the 16 and the 25 (yes, i am that old!). However, having just had the AA out to my daughters Clio for the 3rd time in 2 months, I'm not exactly enamoured with their small cars either. Sort those electrics!!!

I agree with most sentiments already expressed here. They missed a trick with the Laguna - the old one sold well until people realised they were incredibly unreliable (electrics, turbos, suspension, the lot). The new one is mediocore and looks incredibly dull. If they wanted it to sell it'd have to look better, be built better and be better to own.

 

Vel Satis - I honestly didn't even realise they still made that!

 

Espace - What are renault thinking? If it costs too much to develop their own platform why not find a partner? Fiat might be interested, as might the VAG group? The Espace as a concept does not deserve to be killed off - poor management, poor labour, expensive labour and compromised design have all combined and we could be seeing the end of an era!

A car chief with balls, at last.

 

Making a sensible decision without blaming everyone and anyone. Will miss the espace, but nothing else!

 Are Renault still in talks with Ford about buying Volvo???? no sense competing with themselves

It is a bold move......but think of the positive, we are then going to see all the Renault effort placed into the small/medium cars........in terms of competition it will rev things up int eh whole market......also the game plan with Nissan will be interesting......we could see a real rebirth!...it sounds exciting! 

It's a shame, because both the Laguna and Espace have both been good-selling cars in the past, both breaking the moulds in terms of design. Yes, the current model looks bland compared to the model it replaced, but the quality of the interior was brilliant (something a lot of people failed to notice) and it's an economical car, especially the 1.5 DCI. We could all see the Vel Satis would flop, however great it looked at the time. Though Renault originally had all sorts of plans to replace it (remember 21 new models by 2009?!) and I think it's a mistake to drop the Espace. It broke the mould. And now it's about to go. Tough times.

A good business decision but is it coincidence that this follows hot on the heals of the Citroen DS stories and the French President's rescue schemes?

 Maybe Citroen are aiming to move back into mid size "clever saloons", whilst Renault concentrates on bread and butter models.

 In the end though they all need to get the parts they outsource to be of better quality in order to ger the reliability up. The Gemans have this probelm as well but seem better able to keep it under wraps.

 

Frankly under Carlos Ghosn Renault's fortunes have fallen into reverse gear. Some appalling decisions, ask the dealer network how they feel about not having a Twingo petrol that falls into the £35 tax band...hard to justify £120 per year on the new 1.2 Freeway. Come on Renault, you are losing out because of poor management and stupid decision taking. The new Megane is very nice but should be better, the new Laguna Coupe is very nice but could have been fantastic with a little more work, the Clio is not as appealing as the old model ever was and the soon to be replaced Scenic is ugly ( remember this is the company who invented the MPV) . Where is you flair ? Bring back the Papa and Nicole days..and fire that Rowen Atkinson lookalike Carlos the Gnome.