The Renault concept hints at a new design direction, while also confirming the brand’s interest in hydrogen combustion technology
Renault has previewed a new concept car designed to showcase hydrogen fuel technologies, along with the French manufacturer’s push towards greater sustainability.
The as-yet-unnamed vehicle was teased during the presentation, by Renault CEO Luca de Meo, of the company’s 2021 financial results. A short statement issued after the speech said the car has been styled by Renault’s recently appointed design chief Gilles Vidal, and that it would “translate the Group’s sustainable development commitments and interpret them for the Renault brand, in the service of sustainable, safe and inclusive mobility”. It also confirmed that the car will be revealed in full in May.
De Meo himself said, “We will soon launch a concept car. We wanted to materialise our vision of sustainability, based on the three pillars – safety, inclusion and environment – on one product. This concept will announce a future product. When we do concepts at Renault, we want to turn them into real cars.”
The single teaser image shows the concept head on, but it’s possible to see that it has a fairly slim headlight line and front grille, along with a substantial drop to the bottom of the front bumper, accentuated by tall daytime running lights. This points to the car being taller than the forthcoming all-electric Megane and, most likely, a full-blown SUV in profile.
De Meo said that having gone through a rationalisation and cost-cutting program, Renault was now focused on the challenge of delivering 27 new models by the end of 2025. “Our real goal is the competitiveness of our future line-up,” he said. “I’m very confident on what we’re doing with engineering and design, so all the projects look very, very good. We’re building the best product line-up that Renault has had in the past several decades, at least.”
He also confirmed a couple of key future arrivals, by revealing that the CMF-EV platform that supports the Megane E-Tech will, in time, also provide a base for a “future Scenic” – a successor to Renault’s popular small MPV – and the Alpine GT X-Over.
The much-rumoured reborn Renault 4 has also been given a green light for production; it will use the same smaller all-electric architecture, CMF-B, as the Renault 5. And finally, a new generation of the electric Dacia Spring is already planned, using an even smaller (and cheaper) EV platform, CMF-A.
The Renault Group’s sales volumes were slightly reduced in 2021, but de Meo said the company’s Renaulution turnaround program was more than a year ahead of schedule already, with much-improved cashflow, a greater share of more profitable, higher-end models, and a huge reduction in fixed costs. He also said that E-Tech electrified vehicles – hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure electric – accounted for more than a third of all of Renault’s passenger car sales, and that this technology has already, in effect, replaced diesel in the firm’s portfolio.
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