SIX BEST LE QUEMENT CARS
MEGANE I
WHILE it might have been aesthetically mute, the Mk1 Mégane was a massive step forward from the previous Renault 19, and clicked with both the French and European markets, selling in incredible numbers. It also sparked a plethora of derivatives, unlike the Twingo, including perhaps its most revolutionary form, the Scénic.
MEGANE II
THE second-generation Mégane’s styling might have raised eyebrows with some consumers, but the inexorable brilliance of transferring le Quément’s dramatic design language onto a volume model took real faith. Big names such as Carlos Ghosn and Carlos Tavares all played their part in ensuring Mégane II came to market under le Quément’s leadership. The fact that it was such a sales success proved that eccentric and creative design belongs on mainstream products.
MEGANE SCENIC I
PATRICK le Quément’s original Mégane Scénic used the monobox to create what soon became Europe’s family car. Citroen, Peugeot, Ford and even BMW followed with high-roof/low-floor hatchbacks with the versatility of a larger people carrier contained within a manageable footprint. It was as innovative as it was efficient.
AVANTIME
FOR all the Mégane II’s success, the Avantime – perhaps the purest interpretation of this design era – didn’t do quite so well. Yet the car wasn’t created with volume in mind. Signed off due to a vacuum in one of Renault’s consulting manufacturer partnerships, it was built under contract and thus never meant to sell in large numbers. Yet even so, the model was just too extreme in concept and execution to foster contemporary sales success.
ESPACE III
THE Espace is one of Renault’s most charismatic models, but while the original’s brilliance was still certainly derived from its boxy aesthetic, the Espace III project that Patrick le Quément led was just as ground-breaking as the Mk1 car with its novel fibreglass body, because it reinterpreted the world of family-car interiors.
VEL SATIS
THE Vel Satis was another experiment in French luxury that never quite gelled with the car-buying public. Aesthetically, the Vel Satis’s notion of French luxury was being reinterpreted just at the point German manufacturers were fostering a new concept of ‘Premium’ – think black leather and brushed aluminium trim, rather than wood and beige interiors. This contemporary trend hurt the Vel Satis’s appeal as an executive vehicle in most European markets.