Renault took a lunge upmarket at the turn of the century with the bustle-backed Mégane. Sales soared for a few years, then fell of a cliff. Then came today’s Mégane, which looks hastily styled and lacks character.
In the UK, Renault has suffered badly. In 2005 it had 7% of the market, but sales then collapsed. Renault UK axed the Modus, Wind, Laguna, Espace and Kangoo in 2011 and its market share bottomed out at 2% in 2013.
Next generation Renault Megane Sports Tourer unveiled at the 2016 Geneva Motorshow
The good news is that the current Clio and Captur have hit the spot, with UK sales leaping from 46,173 units in 2013 to 66,334 in 2014 - a 44% increase.
But the Clio and Captur are fun, affordable cars. With the new Mégane, Renault wants a different image that suggests a deeper quality. Cracking that in the UK will be harder than in the rest of Europe, because Renault isn’t importing the impressive new Espace or the Laguna-replacing Talisman saloon, both of which would have reinforced the positioning of the new Mégane.
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