After seven years of good and loyal service, the fifth Renault Espace of the name leaves the catalog. But he may still have his say…
If we had to find an adjective to describe the relationship that the French public has with minivans, there is no doubt that the appropriate term would be “passionate”. A story of love but also of hate. Because, if this body experienced its golden age at the end of the 1990s and especially in the 2000s, in particular thanks to Renault, which declined it in all sauces (compact with the Scénic in 1996, mini with the Modus in 2004 and even extra-mini, in a way, with the Twingo already in 1993), it was supplanted by another mode, that of the SUV.
Since the rise of the latter, neglected by the public, single-volume vehicles are gradually disappearing from the catalogs of car manufacturers. The Diamond brand is no exception to this rule. After having put an end to the career of the Scénic court during the course of last year, it is the Espace which is now disappearing from the catalogue. 5 generations, nearly 40 years of career, a good million copies sold worldwide, it’s a whole section of Renault’s recent history that is coming to an end… or maybe not in fact!
He retires in general indifference
Not really a surprise, his disappearance had been recorded for some time. And then, the fifth generation was never a great success. Its beginnings in particular will have been difficult because of a reliability not always irreproachable. Hammered by the CO2 penalty and the weight penalty, he was simply no longer able to fight today. Last year, 322 copies were sold. To give you an idea, the Talisman, whose career ended in the first quarter of 2022 and which was anything but a commercial success, sold twice as much…
The saddest thing about this story is that he left with general indifference. Nothing, not the slightest communication from the manufacturer. It even still appears on the site. To understand that this model is over, you have to look for the configurator… which has disappeared. And if you click on the button “discover the Spaces available for purchase”, you learn that there are only a very small handful left for sale. If minivans tempt you, hurry, especially as there are great deals to be had! Otherwise, there is always the 7-seater Grand Scénic…
Imminent arrival of a new 7-seater model
Finally, he too will not have much longer because it is this year that the long version of the Austral will be released. And it will no longer have any reason to exist. Because the new large 7-seater model will be an SUV, and that is the virtual guarantee of doing better commercially. The Peugeot 5008, for example, was the 24th best seller in 2022.
But according to the persistent rumors, it could well be that this elongated Austral takes the name “Space”. Not exactly crazy in that the Scénic will be reborn as a zero-emission SUV. There is therefore no contraindication for Space to begin such a mutation and turn into an adventurer in turn. Moreover, in general, Luca de Meo, the boss of the group, is known to have revived, not without some success, a former glory. A model on sale since 2007, slightly restyled in 2015, but still available in 2022: the Fiat 500. You have surely not forgotten either that the name R5 will come out of the closet from 2024. In short, a simple noise of corridor, but which makes sense when you know the recent history of the manufacturer and that of its manager…
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Renault Espace (2023): will the 7-seater Austral live up to the myth?
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