Goodbye, Renault Scenic, the MPV. Hi Scénic, the electric crossover
After more than 20 years of existence, the Renault Scenic will disappear from the catalog of the French brand as we have always known it, in other words, as a minivan.
But this is far from the end of a historic designation within Renault, which will recover and apply it to an SUV/crossover to be launched as early as 2022.
This fundamental change for the Renault Scénic is not a surprise. The minivan market — or MPV — has not stopped losing ground to SUV/crossovers and seems to have fewer and fewer suitors in Europe, where the SUV boom continues to make itself felt.
First generation Renault Scénic appeared in 1996.
“I think the car is exceptional, but we don't make money with it. The segment is down, unlike the SUV segment, which continues to grow and in which we are not competitive,” said Luca de Meo, Renault's general manager, at the annual shareholders meeting, cited by L’Argus.
Renault intends to move towards electric and electrified crossovers and SUVs, which combined with the rationalization of its portfolio, leads to the complete disappearance of MPVs.
Luca de Meo, general director of Renault
According to the aforementioned Gallic publication, one of the shareholders showed some concern about the disappearance of a name as historic as this one, but the “boss” of Renault will have confirmed that the Scénic name is not going anywhere: “If they are too attached to scenic name, I'm not going to tell you that we must necessarily abandon it”.
Scenic reborn... in 2022
With this answer, Luca de Meo is already looking to the future of the model, which will be reborn in 2022 in the form of a 100% electric crossover. The presentation of this model will take place after that of the Mégane E-Tech 100% electric (the production version of the Mégane eVision), scheduled for the beginning of 2022.
The new Renault Scénic, like the Mégane electric, will use the CMF-EV modular platform, specific for electric vehicles, of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and will be built at the production unit in Douai, in the north of France.
If just over a year ago it was announced that the electric Mégane would be complemented by a larger electric SUV — similar to the Kadjar or the electric Nissan Ariya, which is also based on the CMF-EV — these plans have been changed according to L'Argus. The electric SUV (project HCC), it seems, was suspended and in its place will come, thus, the more compact Scénic (project HCB).
MPV like Scénic were already in decline, with nothing to do against the SUV armada.
2022 promises to be a particularly busy year for Renault, kicking off with the launch of the electric Mégane — which will also have crossover genes —; the presentation of this revamped Scénic — which changes from MPV to combustion to an electric crossover —; and also the second generation of the Kadjar — a model to which we have already devoted our attention, after being “caught” in spy photos.
