Renault's grand design for Grand Scenic

Renault Australia has two local examples to draw from in its business case for the Grand Scenic people mover – the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso or the Kia Carnival.

In the case of the former, sales have dropped exactly 100 units for the year to date, which doesn't sound too bad, except the Citroen had only sold 187 units by the same time last year. The Carnival, in contrast, has sold nearly 3300 units for 2016 so far. Both the Citroen and the Kia have been widely praised, but one sells in respectable numbers, the other doesn't.

Renault Australia is hoping that the Grand Scenic can generate the sort of sales numbers the Carnival does. There is, of course, the danger that the Grand Scenic may wind up selling as poorly as the Citroen. But if vehicles are to be judged fairly by the market, the Grand Scenic is in with a good chance of succeeding, says Renault Australia MD, Justin Hocevar.

"Earlier this year we went over there to meet the program on next-generation Grand Scenic," he told motoring.com.au during the launch of the new Koleos last week.

"We were very impressed with what they've done with that offering within that segment. As a result we're running a business case; it's still a work in progress.

"We're trying very much, at the moment, to focus on key products in core segments. That's a critical part of shoring up our success here in Australia, because we need the volume and contribution and stability that comes from those segments.

"So we don't want to invest a lot of time, effort and money playing small segments unless there's a very sure opportunity there."

Explaining in a round-about way why the Grand Scenic represents a better opportunity for Renault Australia than the Grand C4 Picasso can deliver for Citroen, Hocevar said that the seven-seat Renault is "a vehicle that will be competitively priced, well equipped, very well supported – from [the perspective of] back end and after-sales support and size of network.

"I think that we have an offering that could compete from a stronger position."

Renault, with 56 dealers around the country, has a network that's nearly twice as large as Citroen's, at last count.

Asked about Grand Scenic taking sales away from the Kia, Hocevar answered: "I think so... that's where we'd be seeking to win share..."

Grand Scenic is a people mover with more SUV styling influences than traditional MPVs. That will help the business case for it, given Australia's cultural preference for SUVs. The question remains, however, will those SUV cues be enough to build a strong supporting case for the Grand Scenic?

"They're all the things that have to be weighed up before we make a final call on it," Hocevar admitted.