Renault

The distinctive styling of the new Renault Mégane II in three- and five-door form features a "visor" rear window

Mégane II—One of the more unlikely new production models at the Paris Motor Show was the Renault Mégane II, which breaks new ground in the design search for fresh identities for high-volume cars. Renault has four design centers—the Technocentre near Paris, another in the downtown area of the city, a third in Barcelona, and fourth in Korea. A total of 21 nationalities are represented in the centers, although more than half of the employees are French. This polyglot design population has helped to give Renault a reputation for production-car styling that looks more akin to offbeat concepts than day-to-day practical transport. The automotive world has become used to concepts that are firm indicators of future series models but tend to be relatively conservative or just have certain aspects that are used in a production version.

But under the guiding hand of Senior Vice President for Corporate Design, Patrick le Quément, Renault has been boldly melding the apparent dichotomy of much bolder concepts with production models. The Avantime was the first manifestation of this, followed by the Vel Satis, but both are relatively low-volume executive models. However, the X84 program—the Mégane II—is very much high volume, with production that will ultimately be available with seven different body styles. Hatch and Sport Hatch (coupe) are the first arrivals.

Total production of all seven is expected to reach 800,000 units per annum. The most distinctive element of the Mégane, which was developed in only 29 months, is its rear window and trunk area treatment. (The engineering phase was "significantly shortened" and the "production preparation" phase halved, with production plants involved from the start.) The glass is variously described as a bow window or, by le Quément, as a "visor." The rear deck is like an upmarket sedan from the 1930s. Such highly individualistic styling is unusual in a car in the Mégane's segment.

The Mégane is available with a six-speed manual gearbox.

"It is a segment that has some anonymous cars but some strong designs," says le Quément. "We do a lot of market research, but we do not ask our customers which designs we should put on the market. We do listen to them, but with a 'distant ear.' If you let them 'design' your product, you end up with yesterday's car. Renault creates new cars by getting together a group of highly motivated designers—male and female—and opening up the competition to whoever wants to participate, so we get good motivation."

Concept cars have played a strong role in Renault design since the first was shown in 1988. Ten years later, the Vel Satis coupe concept was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show, and it is that car's rear treatment that the new Mégane echoes.

A seatbelt/airbag system for rear-seat Mégane passengers is planned.

"The rear is associated with the flamboyant styling of pre-World War II Renault carroserie. So we have—particularly on the five-door car—a long roof terminated by a curvaceous backlight like a visor," said le Quément. Putting that on the back of a small/medium sector family car was a bold decision.

Major efforts were made to create a simple interior for the car, with intuitive controls, and to avoid "lots of buttons and switches." Said le Quément: "We have tried to make switchgear as self-explanatory as possible; it should 'tell' the user how it should be operated—pushed, pulled, or turned. We call this TouchDesign. It is a registered name." Renault plans to produce a book about the philosophy and methodology involved. It will join another Renault design publication—on the fundamentals of good design. "That gives all the rules a designer needs to abide by to create a successful-looking vehicle," added le Quément. It covers the integration of mechanical aspects of a new model, platform requirements and constraints, and the finer points of design such as interior lighting and perceived quality. This design credo was applied to Mégane, said le Quément: "We basically had to do all seven versions at the same time, and we had to ensure that decisions we made about the first would not be regretted on later designs such as a notchback."

One significant difficulty facing designers has long been the need to factor in legislative requirements. An early example of that was a U.S. federal demand for standard bumper heights. The need spawned some extraordinarily ugly and clumsy solutions in the 1970s. But a combination of technology and design advances solved the problem just as they have other needs. "But now we are at a crossroads with requirements—both compulsory and volunteered by the industry—becoming very difficult to meet," warned le Quément. Pedestrian safety is the next big challenge. "From an ethical standpoint, we agree with what is needed, but we and our suppliers have to overcome something that at present looks like being very difficult to make invisible," he added.

Under the guiding hand of Senior Vice President for Corporate Design, Patrick le Quément, Renault has been melding the apparent dichotomy of much bolder concepts with production models such as the Avantime, Vel Satis, and now Mégane II.

The Mégane II, powered by a range of gasoline and diesel engines between 1.4- and 2.0-L linked to a choice of gearboxes including a six-speed manual, will be built in France, Spain, and Turkey. It will use Renault's C platform, which will be shared with Nissan as part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Its ESP (Electronic Stability Program) includes understeer control and adaptive headlight beams that compensate for acceleration and deceleration. Variable assistance power steering is fitted. The car has a long wheelbase in relation to its overall length.

Although not fitted to the launch Méganes, Renault's combined seatbelt/airbag system for rear-seat passengers, which has been subject to an extensive development program, is likely to be offered on the car in the near future.

Renault's Ellypse concept has a "wave form" floor and minimalist interior.

Ellypse—Alongside the Mégane was Renault's newest concept car, the Ellypse, which has a 42-V electrical system, x-by-wire technology, and a new-generation diesel engine with CO₂ exhaust emissions of 85 g/km (138 g/mi). Like the production Mégane, its interior also incorporates TouchDesign. Renault says the car features easy removal and recycling of components. The doors on the left side of the car are conventional; on the right, the rear door hinges from either its leading or trailing edge. The car has a panoramic roof incorporating solar cells to provide air conditioning when the vehicle is stationary. The Ellypse has a total mass of 980 kg (2160 lb).

The interior is minimalist, with two central dashboard displays that summarize essential data. The seats use "memory foam" to adapt to individual body shapes, and automated intelligent kinematics adapt the seats for "road" and "rest" modes. The floor has a "waveform" effect and the seats can be reclined into the undulating floor.

Parts count has been minimized, according to Renault, with the hood, front bumper, and radiator grill being a single polypropylene part. The material is also used for fenders and rear bodywork. The car's side doors are made of aluminum, and other parts of the structure use both aluminum and steel. The interior floor is covered in a material called Synderma, which uses leather off-cuts. Sound-deadening materials are made mainly from natural fibers (particularly cotton), recycled clothing, and polyester fibers from pre-sorted plastic bottles and packaging.

The car's engine is a 1.2-L turbodiesel producing 72 kW (97 hp) and a maximum of 200 N•m (148 lb•ft). It has piezoelectric injectors with 10 instead of the more typical four or five holes. Injection pressure is very high at about 200 MPa (29 ksi). The car has a 12-kW starter-alternator, which also works as a traction motor in parallel with, or for short distances independent of, the internal-combustion engine. A regenerative braking system is fitted.

Peugeot-Citroën

Peugeot's fuel-cell-powered fire truck, called the H2O, brought a new element to concept vehicles at international motor shows when it appeared at Paris.

H₂O—French manufacturers had several concept cars at Paris, but by far the weirdest was the Peugeot H₂O baby fire truck. It was created to demonstrate fuel-cell technology applied to a fire engine small enough to access limited space areas in cities. It has an auxiliary power unit (APU) to provide electric energy for pumps, smoke extractors, and communications. Oxygen for the fuel cell is drawn from an emergency tank when the fire truck is operating in smoky conditions. Hydrogen is manufactured on board from an aqueous solution of sodium borohydride and a catalyzer.

The Peugeot Sésame concept has sliding side doors.

Sésame—In addition, Peugeot showed the Sésame concept car, a small urban vehicle with two electric sliding doors, athermic glass roof, and very short hood. A coupe version of the 307 also was shown, with a powered folding steel hardtop.

By-wire technology for the Citroën C-Airdream concept means no pedals, no gear selector.

C-Airdream—Citroën revealed its C-Airdream, a 2+2 coupe with by-wire technology at the show. Beneath its panoramic roof is an interior free of pedals and gearshift, replaced by steering-wheel-mounted controls. A navigation and information monitor's functions are controlled via a computer mouse at the leading edge of the central armrest. Braking is electronically controlled and the car has variable-ratio electric steering, and suspension is by Citroën's Hydractive 3. The engine is a 3.0-L V6 driving through a sequential auto-adaptive automatic gearbox.

The multirole Citroën Pluriel has moved from concept to production.

Pluriel—Citroën's four-seat C3 Pluriel, which it has previously displayed at auto shows, is set for production. It is a multirole model that can be configured into guises that include sedan, convertible, spider, and pickup. It has a full-length fabric sunroof that can be opened to any one of eight set positions. There is no B-pillar, and the cantrails are removable. The pickup conversion involves the trunk lid being folded down and the rear seats folded flat. The car has distinctive looped headrests. Engine choice is a 1.4-L 56-kW (75-hp) or 1.6-L 82-kW (110-hp) with paddle shift. The Pluriel has variable assistance electric power steering.