Design Development: Renault Scénic

Inventing new product segments, as Renault did with its Scénic mini-MPV in 1996, means leading from the front. But as most athletes will tell you, that approach can involve a fair bit of looking over your shoulder.

The first-generation mini-multi-purpose vehicle, with its genuinely innovative interior garnered wide acclaim – underfloor cubby holes and aircraft-style fold-down tables for rear passengers were new things for mainstream cars back then.

Major sales followed, plus a slew of imitators from other European and Japanese brands, but by the end of the car’s third generation, the competitors had caught up and the market changed. The image of MPVs had become dowdy for many – too commonplace, too boring – and instead, compact crossovers or SUVs like the Nissan Qashqai were catching the public’s eye and luring its collective wallet.

So much so, the French brand seriously questioned whether to bother making a fourth-generation Scénic. As exterior design VP, Anthony Lo, candidly admits: “There was a lot of discussion about whether we should do another one at all because we have other cars that can replace it now. But the Scénic is such a good brand for us. Even in the last year of its current life, it is still the market leader in France. If you get out of Paris you see a lot of families with them. So we continued, but needed to find a twist, so it’s no longer just a simple, functional van with a lot of room.”

Exterior

Jérémie Sommer’s exterior design sketches

The big challenge for the fourth-generation Scénic’s designers was to create a more emotional exterior to go with the interior functionality the car had long been known for. The R-Space concept had been very well-received back in 2011 and was the direction chosen to pursue once work started in earnest in the autumn of 2012.

Model of the Renault R-Space concept

The designers accordingly worked towards curvier surfacing, a more raked windscreen and also insisted on 20-inch wheels as standard across the range, to ensure good wheel-to-body proportions.

Emmanuel Klissarov’s exterior render

Agneta Dahlgren, head of design for C-segment and electric vehicles, and the project leader for the new Scénic, picks up the story: “It was evident to us to offer one-size 20-inch wheels on this kind of car. We had to convince the top [non-design] management of the advantages, which are several, not only for good proportions (tall) with a low rolling resistance (narrow). A single wheel size also guarantees ideal ride comfort and handling as the tyres have been optimised for the new Scénic’s chassis.”

Reviewing 1:4-scale models with design chief Laurens van den Acker

The two exterior designers involved, Jérémie Sommer and Emmanuel Klissarov had their sketches developed first into quarter-scale and then full-scale models for evaluation. Various photos of the Di-Noc-covered 1:1 examples in open-air reviews show Sommer’s work on the left and Klissarov’s design – acting as a ‘challenger’ proposal – on the right.

Sommer and Klissarov’s full-scale model proposals

The basic proportions are the same in both with only relatively small differences – including Klissarov’s more pronounced muscular body surfacing and graphically integrated front lamps and his window line ‘kick-up’ starting at the black B-pillar, rather than some way after it.

Fourth-generation Renault Scenic

Sommer’s subtler surfacing – perhaps more in keeping with a mini-MPV than an SUV – was the approach chosen. The final design choice for the production car was made in July 2013 with the design totally frozen by July 2014.

Interior

Sketches by interior designer Maxime Pinol

But with so much focus on a newly emotional exterior design could the practical interior of previous generations be fully retained? All the key exterior dimensions on the new Scénic have got bigger – 40mm longer, 20mm wider, 13mm higher and 32mm in the wheelbase – which is a promising indication of more potential interior cabin space, but it is sometimes the angles and radii between those exterior measurements that can cause interior issues.

Later interior theme sketch

“Some centimetres were given over to this very sculptural exterior [in the tumblehome area],” Dahlgren concedes. As a result the rear seating now splits 60/40 rather than having three individual seats, as before, but she perceives the change justified, as she continues: “We did customer clinics and while people liked the sliding seats, individual seats didn’t appear to be that important. We could still have made three individual seats but they wouldn’t have each been wide enough. The seats weren’t changed for money-saving reasons.”

Interior designer Maxime Pinol

The bigger focus for the interior design team was how the new Scénic should make the driver feel. Perhaps understanding that MPVs can sometimes make their owners perceive themselves as mere ‘parent chauffeurs’ instead of formerly care-free individuals, Renault pushed for a modular cabin to better reflect more than one mind state.

Sketches by Maxime Pinol

Interior designer Maxime Pinol drew a scenario where “two distinct ambiences coexist, namely a sporty ‘cockpit’ feel and a more open-plan arrangement,” he explains. Indeed, as the blue-accented areas of his otherwise black and white sketches show the key to the change is around the traditional transmission tunnel area.

Ignasi Cabrisses’ sketches of the Scenic’s centre console

“When the sliding centre console is in its foremost position and forms a single unit with the dashboard, the dominant ʻcockpit’ feel is underlined by the fact that the instruments are oriented clearly towards the driver,” continues Pinol.

Cabrisses’ sketch dated 2012

“But when the centre console is slid back, it becomes an item of ‘furniture’ that provides all occupants with stowage and connectivity, including access to four USB ports.” “This modularity was important,” adds Dahlgren. “Customers could be dropping their kids off to school and then maybe use the same car to go on to work ‘solo’, as a Scénic can often be the only car in the family.”

Steering wheel design is now shared between a number of Renault models

With this theme quickly found, Dahlgren admits few other interior ideas were investigated, but this helped the team “focus on quality at the end. For the interior, we even made a dynamic model with the almost-final design to validate it in real life ‘driving’ situations.”

Completed interior is designed to be much more in tune with today’s drivers

This more dynamic driver focus was also a priority of the current Espace and Dahlgren concedes that the Scénic has more in common with the big seven-seat MPV in this respect than with the similar-sized Renault Kadjar crossover. The large 8.7-inch portrait-shaped ‘pinch’-and-scroll’ touchscreen in the centre console is a good example, as are the air vents, knobs and switches and their various lighting activations.

Finished Renault Scenic interior

Indeed, the interior detail sketches, marked as drawn in 2012, are by the same component designer employed on the Espace, Ignasi Cabrisses. Only the more conventional gearstick on the Scénic is markedly different to the Espace’s more handle-shaped version.

Design team with the finished car

Who will buy this car – on sale this autumn, 2016 – beyond the old Scénic’s loyal customers though? “With this car we think we can bring new people to Renault,” Dahlgren asserts, “maybe ones who are a little bit bored of SUVs and want to come back to a good-looking but functional car. It’s not an SUV and not really an MPV either, it’s a hybrid of two different cars.”

In conclusion, Renault’s team should be applauded for breathing life into an ailing sales segment. Surely not every new car in 2016 needs to be a crossover.

Renault Scénic

Vehicle type Production MPV
Length (Scénic/Grand Scénic) 4406mm/4634mm
Width (Scénic/Grand Scénic) 1865mm/1865mm
Height (Scénic/Grand Scénic) 1653mm/1660mm
Wheelbase (Scénic/Grand Scénic) 2734mm/2804mm

Design director Laurens van den Acker
Overall team leader Agneta Dahlgren
Exterior team leader François Leboine
Exterior designers Jérémie Sommer and Emmanuel Klissarov
Interior team leader Dominique Marzolf
Interior designer Maxime Pinol
Colour and trim leader Sidonie Camplan
Colour and trim designer Mathilde Bancon
Project managers Romain Chevalier and Robert Ernst

Project started Autumn 2012
Project completed Summer 2014
First seen Geneva motor show, March 2016