{"id":11608,"date":"2016-03-03T10:03:49","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T09:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/?p=11608"},"modified":"2017-02-21T09:01:16","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T08:01:16","slug":"renault-scenic-questione-famiglia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/2016\/03\/renault-scenic-questione-famiglia\/","title":{"rendered":"RENAULT SCENIC, A FAMILY MATTER"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt is the icing on the cake for our design,\u201d smiles a proud Laurens Van den Acker, head of design at Renault. The new Sc\u00e9nic seems to have what it takes to breathe new life into the compact MPV segment. At Renault they are very positive: \u201cIt was basically all about re-inventing a segment that we had invented in the first place,\u201d continues van den Acker. \u201cIt is a very sophisticated car, which is easy on the eye but not easy to design, because it is complicated making an MPV interesting and attractive. But my team have done a wonderful job.\u201d Delphine De Andria, head of segment C strategies, comments: \u201cWe wanted to produce an MPV that would be not only functional \u2013 in terms of modularity and practicality \u2013 but also desirable, able to win back the customers lost to crossovers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Van den Acker\u2019s design philosophy is expressed in a graceful image: that of a flower with six petals, which represent love, exploration, family, work, play and wisdom. MPVs are renowned for their practicality and capaciousness, in other words, the \u2018family\u2019 petal. \u201cAnd the new Sc\u00e9nic,\u201d comments Agneta Dahlgren, head of design for the M1 range, segment C, \u201cis certainly family, but also love.\u201d In Van den Acker\u2019s words: \u201cIt is for parents who are still in love and do not only use the car to do the school run.\u201d But how can these concepts be transformed into a car without falling into the trap of another crossover (Renault already has the Kadjar)?<\/p>\n<\/div>

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The windscreen is further forward, and the height of the body has been lowered slightly to achieve a single tense arc; but then the car has been given a more robust look, with both strong shoulders worthy of an SUV and 20 inch wheels (designed by Stefano Bolis, who was also responsible for the light clusters) so in fact the car has a dominant height.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\u201cIt had to be a truly innovative car,\u201d remembers J\u00e9r\u00e9mie Sommer, who designed the exterior: \u201cThis was the reason for the large but narrow tyres, which made it unique but also introduced an all-new architecture. From that moment on, it was a matter of optimising everything, and of improving the proportions. Then the R-Space concept car presented at Geneva in 2011 focalised our work. At that point our task was basically to put a concept car on the road. \u201cIt was the R-Space\u201d, Van den Acker confirms, \u201cthat revealed the right formula. Someone who drove the first Sc\u00e9nic felt modern and progressive, a feeling that was lost over the years, and one which we now intend to recover.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

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It is not a crossover, but it resembles one. \u201cIntentionally,\u201d Sommer cuts in. \u201cWe knew that the large wheels would make the car taller. A crossover feeling, if you wish. And we went along with it. We wanted to express robustness but also sensuality and warmth, with solid shoulders to give it a hint of sportiness, in other words a car you would buy not only for the family but for yourself too.\u201d Then there is the interior, which has always been foremost in Van den Acker\u2019s mind. It was designed by Maxime Pinol, who talks about \u201cslightly sporty styling, and above the instrumentation, which is turned towards the driver, is a wing-like element that extends towards the passenger, a sort of fusion between sportiness and involvement.\u201d It remains a compact family MPV, but with some elements of an SUV, which help to \u201cmake it more sensual and exciting\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Full article in Auto&Design no. 217<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

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