Renault rumoured to move upmarket
Newspaper blows the whistle on new luxury entry to be based on Benz E-ClassRenault is expected to have another crack at building a car fit for a (French) president, according to a report in a French newspaper, Les Echo.
In the article, which was picked up and republished by Automotive News Europe this week, Renault's Chief Operating Officer, Carlos Tavares was cited as the source of the information.
"It is about using their platform and designing a Renault upper body to extend to it what I might call the French touch," Tavares told reporters. "Their platform" is understood to refer to Mercedes-Benz and the E-Class architecture.
This particular model would be sold under the brand name 'Initial Paris', which is alleged to be a new name that will fill out Renault's portfolio of brands, including the Renault name itself, Dacia for the volume-selling cheapies and Alpine.
The involvement of the three-pointed star in this project is an adjunct to the companies' previously-announced cooperation agreement, which sees Benz supplying diesels for Infiniti (through Renault's alliance with Nissan) and the Renault Twingo platform shared with the next-generation smart cars.
Should the new car (and the new brand) come to fruition, it will mark the end of the hiatus since Renault last sold an exec-class large car -- the Vel Satis (pictured), which was retired in 2009.
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