This is one of the sensations of this 2023 Paris Air Show: Renault has presented its new SUV coupé, the Rafale, a nod to the famous Dassault fighter plane, but also to the car manufacturer’s aeronautical past.
A historical link between these two industries, as highlighted by Anne Asensio, a great specialist in automotive design, after having worked at Renault and General Motors, and now head of design at Dassault Systèmes.
“The automobile and aeronautical industries have always operated in a co-evolutionary regime: the most advanced technologies crystallize, with a more human aspect for the automobile because it is more accessible and more extreme solutions, in aeronautics, particularly due to safety conditions” , said.
The Rafale, an “umpteenth SUV”?
As with every new model introduction, positive and negative reviews abound. Among the recurring “complaints”, especially on social networks, that of being offered “another SUV”.
A certain overdose of star format for new vehicles in recent years: a trend well identified by manufacturers, and in particular by Renault, which is why it presents this Rafale right after your new AustralAND the new spaceIt definitely went from the minivan format to the SUV.
An opposition between “pretty” minivans and “bad” SUVs, which often comes up today in debates about the place of the car in our societies. An idyllic vision of the former star of families that we do not necessarily find on the other side of the Atlantic, as Anne Asensio explains:
“In Europe, it was the minivan that initiated the new forms of hybridization of automotive concepts, directly linked to the question of the new uses of mobility associated with uninhibited lifestyles, free from ostentation such as the tricycle, demonstrative of a status and associated with the code deluxe and premium”.
He continues: “This strong trend of the 1980s and 1990s gave the minivan a progressive and socially positive image associated with living together. In the United States, by contrast, the minivan became associated with the negative image of soccer mom’s car: the mother who needed a large-capacity vehicle, not very elegant because it seemed to translate ‘gendered’ uses (devalued by a social appropriation reserved for women) to transport the children to school, to their sports activities or shopping.
Ultimately, it is in some ways this rejection of the minivan in North America that gave birth to the SUV craze.
“In the 2000s, when the first SUVs appeared, with some setbacks in proportion adjustment and stylistic definition, recalls Anne Asensio, they acquired a more masculine, more positive image and, in fact, developed to the detriment of minivans with a less rewarding image. “
A Renault Rafale, a copy of the Peugeot 408?
Another criticism of the Renault Rafale is that it is a copy of one of Peugeot’s latest models, the 408. A more general criticism of the fact that all cars, especially SUVs, look alike.
“That all new cars look the same? I’ve heard that since I started my car design career in the 1980s. There are moments of innovation, like with MPVs, SUVs, but otherwise it’s more of an evolution. “, underlines Anne Asensio. .
Another point to take into account about this supposed mimicry between the Peugeot 408 and the latest Renault model: behind the Renault Rafale, we find Renault’s chief designer, Gilles Vidal, who arrived in 2020 from… Peugeot. In this specific case, we can speak, therefore, of a continuity in the style, rather than a “copy”.
But more broadly, where do these coupe SUVs that are proliferating on the automotive landscape of late come from?
“Americans set the tone in the automotive industry in the form of hybridization of concepts and were forerunners of SUVs resulting from a reuse of iconic ‘pickup’ platforms. But the SUV coupe is very clearly a ‘European-influenced’ rewrite.” The SUV coupé is a bit like an SUV that puts its head on its shoulders, both for aerodynamic reasons and for the search for elegance”, analyzes Anne Asensio.
Another explanation is that this format is ideal for offering new models on existing platforms (the technical bases of vehicles), while heavy investments are being made to develop new ones, optimized for electric motors.
“The miniaturization of electric platforms will take time, as will the drastic reduction of their diversity, often no more than three platforms per brand for an ever-increasing diversity of variants,” explains Anne Asensio. they seek to play with proportions and cultural references, as in the case of the Renault Rafale”.
Source: BFM TV
