Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

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Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by R9UKE »

Oh dear, oh dear.
Renault is trimming the fat from its UK line-up, following plummeting sales figures over the last few years. From February, no fewer than five models will be axed, leaving some notable gaps in the range.

Top of the chops are the Laguna hatch, Sport Tourer and Coupe. Also disappearing will be the Espace and Grand Espace, Modus and Grand Modus, Wind roadster and Kangoo passenger car. Collectively, these make up nearly 10 per cent of Renault’s total UK sales


Read more: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoe ... z1h6n1eBXE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Can't say I didn't see it coming. Killing of the Laguna and Espace especially sees me lose all respect I have for the brand as it is today.

After the disastrous reliability record of the Laguna II, the new model needed the Insignia treatment of a complete rebranding. That, coupled with those awkward looks meant it was destined to fail.

Espace. REALLY RENAULT??? Killing the legend that MADE the MPV? Are you out of your minds!!!? How do you expect sales figures to be maintained when the current generation appeared 9 years ago and has remained virtually unchanged?

The Wind. I'm surprised it didn't take off.

The Modus. It's had it's time, arrived in 04 and has done relatively well, so that's fine.

So sad seeing a brand I love so much completely falling apart. Gone are the moments of madness:

Image

The quirky features:

Image

And the fun that came with it:

Image

And in comes this...

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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by CitroJim »

It's a tragedy Luke :cry: Sadly it's how things are going. The public seem to want bland cars that are stodgily predictable and this means there's no room for the innovators and the ones who dare to be different. All that's wanted is things to be safely and blandly Poxhall-shaped.

It's in all areas of the world now - look, even despotic dictators are a thing of the past now. 2011 saw almost all of them off :lol:

It breaks ones heart that it's likely we'll never see anything as fantastically adventurous as the Avantime ever again and certainly not with a petrol V6 :(

Citroen have already abolished any kind of creativity and now Renault. The ravens will be leaving the tower soon :cry:

The future does not look good. Let's preserve what we have - cars of outstanding character...
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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by R9UKE »

CitroJim wrote:The future does not look good. Let's preserve what we have - cars of outstanding character...
Couldn't put it better myself! :wink:
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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by bxzx16v »

Very sad , I'm a Laguna fan myself , will more than likely be replacing the wifes Laguna II Tourer with a Laguna III in the not too distant future . And losing the Espace too :cry:

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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by Xaccers »

I think the last really good looking car for me was the first Laguna II
I wish Renault had concentrated more on strengthening the engine and less on working out how to slap a megane nose on it (suits the megane, just not the laguna), or eventually turning it into a mazda.
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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by Cliohhh »

Xac wrote:I think the last really good looking car for me was the first Laguna II
I wish Renault had concentrated more on strengthening the engine and less on working out how to slap a megane nose on it (suits the megane, just not the laguna), or eventually turning it into a mazda.
Haha, I agree that Renault seemed to get a bit too carried away with the Megane. For me that was their biggest design breakthrough. It looked fantastic and was duly popular. The only problem was that Renault didn't manage to come up with anything else near that and so you started to see the same design across their range.

I always quite liked the laguna but I guess it was an "inbetween" car, not one thing or another. I'm amazed that the Espace has been discontinued!
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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by Citroenmad »

That is a real shame, I can't say im surprised but it is a shame.

Im a bit shocked at them losing the Laguna range, they will then not offer a big saloon or SportTourer, unless we get a version of that electric saloon sold in other countries? The LagunaIII is a nice car, I dont dislike the looks, its not striking but neither is it a bland shape. They drive very well and aparently the 2.0DCi is a capable engine. This is the biggest dissapointment, that this is being dropped. Its aged badly in that it doesnt rival its current rivals very well, at least you will be able to pick up a decent Lag III for little money!

I really do like the Modus, I wouldn't have one myself but its a great car. We had one for a few weeks when our ScenicII was in the dealer and we all thought it was a superb car. Its an older design now and the grand version is quite close too being a Scenic.

The Espace does not seem to have sold at all well recently, I rarely notice a newish reg version around. Possibly the slowest selling version of the Espace? The VW & Galaxy are around in far bigger numbers. No doubt the reliability of the LagunaII and that eara of Renaults put a downer on its sales. Great looking car for an MPV, looks like a euro express train, I like it!

Im not at all surprised the 'Wind' is going, it was doomed with that name and looks awful. Just a fashion accessory which was badly judged by Renault.

The New Kangoo is not around at all, I rarely even see a van let alone the windowed version. I think it failing the Elk Test put a bad reputation in for that car.

Its a shame, I hope they bring out some better cars soon, as there is only the 3 door Megane which I like in the current range. The Clio is ok. Im surprised they have not dropped the Twingo from UK sales, its not a great competitor in that City car market and is surely only going to get worse when the VW UP, Seat Mii and Skoda Citigo arrive in a few months. The C1 trio is about to have a facelift again and due a replacement in a year or two, the Twingo simple cant compete with those, but I wouldnt miss it!

I really like the big-bum Megane, thought about getting one many times and I still would consider one. They looked far better in the original style, rather than the facelift, but even so, nice cars in my opinion. Was was the LagunaII, if it were not for reliability concerns. Renault doesnt seem to have got the hand of facelifting cars in recent years, they all look worse, the MeganeII, Laguna II and Clio all look less attractive after the later facelifts.
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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by Deanxm »

Im sorry to hear this but renault bought into trendy car market the same as Pug did but pug made a car that didnt fall apart all the time, the laguna (early one) looked nice but the rest are utter rubbish.
The Wind. I'm surprised it didn't take off.
Im surprised anyone bought one but they must of because i saw one the other day and ugly doesnt even begin to describe it, its jacked up like a mini 4x4 and narrow, you couldnt see the QE2 out the back even if you were towing it and at 15k for an average 16vvt model its fast aproaching MX5 terratory and the MX5 isnt an ugly underpowered car..............................

I do secretly like a good Renault, trouble is they havnt made one for years :(

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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by DickieG »

Deanxm wrote:I do secretly like a good Renault, trouble is they havnt made one for years :(
What about the Micra, Note, Qashqai and Joke? :lol:
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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by Citroenmad »

DickieG wrote:
Deanxm wrote:I do secretly like a good Renault, trouble is they havnt made one for years :(
What about the Micra, Note, Qashqai and Joke? :lol:
They are not even a good Nissan, let alone a good Renault. :lol:

I bet Nissan are kicking themselves for joining forces with Renault, they are not the dull, reliable cars they once were. Now they are just dull, even more ugly and powered by Renault engines.
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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by Deanxm »

poor bloke oposite me has a joke, a derv joke, it hurt my eyes every morning when i go to work and every evening when i came home, thank god its dark in the morning and evenings now.
mind you it doesnt like the winter as when i saw3 him come home in it on sunday it was making some horrible tapping noises, that'l be the Renault bit of the juke doing its thing i guess.

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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by Citroenmad »

I wonder if Renault will ever make a real come back now? :(

Its current Megane doesnt seem to be selling quite as well as the last one and the current Scenic is a real odd looking car, nthing like the previous model. Its only really got the Clio which seems to sell and that is aging now

All three French car manufacturers could learn a thing or two by looking at their past!
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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by DOMW »

I cant say I'm that surprised either.

I deal with a lot of ex-Motability Renaults at work and have just had the first of the new shape Kangoos come in and its a huge improvement from the old one. It actually has carpet and plastic trim around everything! But compare it with the new shape Berlingo/Partner and it still falls well short. Espaces have aged well and look good even today if you ask me. I quite like the way they drive as well, but having had 2 seperate 2.2 DCIs with replacement engines at under 35k and 2.0P Turbos with £600 diagnostics bills and coil packs, etc I wouldn't want to run one and have to pay the bills!
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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by myglaren »

There's a Wind around the corner from me - not pleasant - oddly enough next to a sporty Peugeot thingy that looks ten time the car that the Wind is.
Regarding Jokes, there are hundreds around here now.
One reason is I am only a couple of miles from the Nissan plant and lts of people around here work there and get very favourable deals - even for friends, they can buy three cars every two years IIRC.
Added to that there is the Nissan 'fuel only' deal - a Joke for £125 a month, Taxed and insured, all you pay for is fuel and possibly servicing.
I believe that there is a mileage limitation but it is mainly dopy birds that think they are cute and do a 500 yard school run, some of them rarely get off the estate.

In other news, someone at work was telling me about the Prius, which has now hit it's first MOT.
Minories of Durham are refusing to work on them as three MOT testers have been injured on them while checking the wheels.
Rotate the wheel slightly and the motors start up and spin the wheel. A broken arm and two broken wrists so far.
Also the sills carry the current for the batteries and motors and could cause injuries if defective.

Apparently they are quite a problem for servicing - drop the oil out and if the car decides the batteries need charging the petrol engine starts up sans oil!

Lots of similar instances of it starting up, not quite randomly but according to its own inscrutable logic.

Apart from being very expensive, ugly and generally crap, not to mention the twisted logic that defines them as 'environmentally friendly' I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole.
Tom Cruise has one so that's another compelling reason to stay clear :)
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Re: Mass culling at Renault. Thoughts?

Post by bxzx16v »

^^^^ :lolsign: :lolsign: ^^^^

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