Two very different concept cars that both hint at the future of the brand’s production models and cast light on its pure research operations, since both are excluded from immediate production plans. They dominated the Renault stand at the Geneva Show: the Modus City Car on one side, the Wind roadster on the other.
The Modus is a segment B model that is very close to its definitive version and represents a fundamental advance on recent Renault history, since it shares with the Nissan Micra the platform that has emerged from the alliance forged by the two manufacturers five years ago.
That platform is also shared by the Wind, which explores the Renault brand’s sporty side, on a purely theoretical basis. The Wind has a lot more in common with the Modus than the diamond badge on both their radiator grilles. “We worked on the same Renault-Nissan engineering base, as used on the Modus and Micra”, explains Michel Jardin, Director of Concept Car Design. “For us”, he continues, “this is a vital research project, since it adapts the brand identity to a hugely successful segment, where cars are essentially a matter of driving pleasure, charm and charisma. This design incorporates all the vocabulary we have developed in recent years. The masses are still tautly angular, but handled in a softer way that adds all the sensuous dynamism typical of this segment”.
A sports car in which the pleasure of driving is not merely a question of aggressive speed, but derives from the right balance between safety and performance, the Wind hides the latest Valeo arched radiators under its bonnet as well as a Euro 4 2.0 16V engine that suits its size and weight: 387 cm length and 850 kg.
The article continues in Auto & Design no. 146
