The Renault Captur is being presented dynamically this week. If it is targeting the 2008 Peugeot, it would not be the only one to take the hits : the Renault Scénic is also competing !
The good students – who we are not necessarily – are preparing for the 2020 duel at the heart of the B2 segment SUV market, understand : the duels of the “crossover” silhouettes from the Peugeot 208 and Renault Clio, the new 2008 and Captur…
The dynamic tests have given us – or will give us for 2008 with a slight commercial gap – a first insight into the qualities and weaknesses of these belligerents. But on this site, there are few tests. On the other hand, we put ourselves in the shoes of customers who do not know what the B2 segment is and even less so the M1 segment. In short, we are putting ourselves in the shoes of a potential buyer of a Renault Scénic who could now hesitate with the new Renault Captur.
Indeed, the new generation of Captur – like its Peugeot rival – is growing in size and, with its 4.24 m length, it is now about fifteen centimetres from the 4.40 m of the Scénic MPV. If fifteen centimetres are enough for marketing men and women to classify the two machines in two different worlds, it is not the same for customers. Especially since the Renault Captur should offer lower prices than the Scénic….
These two Renault cars will probably walk a little bit on each other’s feet. Or on the wheels, as you wish. They both offer five seats, certainly more welcoming on board the Scénic minivan, but sincerely, for a couple and two children (or a blended family) it is clear that the new Captur offers all the fundamentals of a family with those of a crossover.
And in terms of design, both silhouettes are based on the same themes: if you like one, you will necessarily like the other. The Captur’s exterior designer is Pierre Sabas on the right below who also designed the Clio (see his interview here: http://lignesauto.fr/?p=9016)
The exterior designer of the Scénic 5-seater is Jérôme Sommer (left above) who transformed the minivan to create a range of…. athletic! And a style very close to that of Space. Its oversized wheels and its receding roof energize a style that until then had been a little too family oriented. Its ribbed hood contributes to this effort towards a dynamism that the Captur largely borrows from it.
Whether by chance or not, the two Renault cars were presented in similar, lively shades, and also similar to those of the…. Peugeot 2008. And on board? The Renault Captur is based on the Clio’s dashboard designed by Magali Gouraud’s team (see her interview about the Clio V here : http://lignesauto.fr/?p=9037). On the left below, the Scénic dashboard and on the right, the new Renault Captur. Maxime Pinol is responsible for the interior design of the Scénic.
Wanting to design a dynamic Scénic and a Captur that is more generous in size than the previous one, Renault has created two silhouettes that are not so different… In any case, close enough for the pretty boundaries set by the manufacturer to segment its range to literally explode.
Of course, Scénic remains a minivan with its assets, family assets that the new Captur replaces with others, just as attractive. And since the newcomer is more recent, it also adopts the new identity language in its headlights and taillights….
No doubt Jérôme Sommer has already programmed a mid-life evolution of “his” Scénic, but apart from these details, the fundamentals of the Renault style are now so well calibrated that Captur and Scénic cannot hide being part of the same family.
The Scénic in its 5-seater version could therefore be added to the short-list of future 2008/Captur customers. Or the other way around! The fault lies in the fact that the latter are dangerously close to the template of the Renault minivan. But the Scénic could also suffer from internal competition that had no reason to be with a much more compact Captur until now.
The Scénic still has its CMF platform adapted to vehicles in the M1 segment (Mégane Scénic) but also in the D segment (Espace). However, the Captur is responding with its brand new CMF-B platform (here : https://group.renault.com/actualites/blog-renault/salon-de-geneve-2019-nouvelle-renault-clio-inaugure-la-plateforme-cmf-b-de-lalliance/) inaugurated by the Clio, which has the particularity of hosting a plug-in petrol engine from 2020, i.e. a plug-in hybrid version. Captur or Scénic, it is now more than ever a question to ask yourself…
Bonus : discover the future Kangoo in video
