The current Renault Espace is one of the longest-lived vehicles on the market, having been on sale for just over a decade, more or less unchanged. Although the first generation Espace essentially created the MPV market back in 1984, its successor has somewhat withered on the vine - buyers have deserted it for smaller, more compact seven-seaters, such as Renault's own Scenic, and those spending more money on cars have geenrally drifted away to the German premium brands.
Which makes this all-new Espace, due for official unveiling at the Paris Motor Show next week, all the more important. Not only is it only the fourth generation of one of the most ground-breaking cars of all time, it will be a curucial model as Renault tries to boost its image into the premium sector and attempt to snaffle sales back from BMW, Audi and Mercedes.
So, the Espace is no longer an MPV. According to Renault, it is in fact a true crossover, combining the strengths of a saloon, an MPV and an SUV. Certainly its styling is rather more chunky and upright than before, and it is less obviously a monobox design, but you can still see elements of old Espace, and even the short-lived Avantime coupe in there somewhere.
Renault hasn’t shown us the interior yet, but it is said to major on luxury, comfort, space and design. A glass roof will be standard to allow light into the cabin, while the trim will be made up as muchof aluminium and wood as it will be plastic. Renault will also be using the Espace to launch its new Initiale Paris high-end trim line, as it seeks to woo big-bucks-buyers with a more properly premium buying and owning experience.
Underneath, the Espace rides on Renault-Nissan’s new CFM1 platform, a Franco-Japanese riposte to Volkswagen’s MQB setup and which is already on sale under the likes of the X-Trail and which will eventually underpin the new Megane and other key models. Engines will be almost exclusively diesel with the 130hp 1.6-litre dCi unit being the entry level model. Renault will almost certainly offer a plugin-hybrid version within the next few years as well, using technology previewed by the EOLAB concept.
Sadly, none of this will be available to Irish buyers. There will be no right hand drive version of the Espace, and even if there were one for the UK, there would be no guarantee that projected Irish sales would be sufficient to warrant its import. The original Espace kicked off our love affair with MPVs. This new version merely confirms that that love have moved on to SUVs.
