Renault's planned luxury sub-brand gets reconsidered

Jonathon Ramsey — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 08:44:00 EST

Filed under: Europe, Marketing/Advertising, Renault, Luxury

Renault believes there's enough Alpine love to restart that brand with its own model almost immediately. The launch of the Initiale Paris luxury brand it's been mulling, on the other hand, will be more restrained: a report in Autocar says that instead of launching with a first model based on the Mercedes E-Class architecture, Renault is going to introduce an Initiale Paris trim line on the new Clio and Espace. More accurately, that should be 're-introduce and aggressively market,' since Renault has used an Initiale Paris trim over the years since it introduced the concept car (pictured) in 1995, even as recently as the current-generation Laguna Coupe.

Other models will be added after the Clio and Espace, and when Renault can assess what kind of future the trim has, it will decide on the launch of a subsidiary brand. Company CEO Carlos Tavares said we shouldn't hang around waiting for a decision, though, declaring that establishing such a brand - if it even comes to that - "will be a job for at least my successor to worry about, not me."

Renault's planned luxury sub-brand gets reconsidered originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Mar 2013 08:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Renault's Initiale Paris luxe brand to get phased launch?

Jonathon Ramsey — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 08:44:00 EST

Filed under: Europe, Renault, Luxury

The Renault Initiale Paris concept car from 1995 (pictured) became the company's Vel Satis flagship model that sold from 2002 to 2009 - although the Vel Satis did without the concept's detuned Formula One engine, a 392-horsepower, 3.5-liter Renault Sport RS6 V10, which might be why it never sold as well as desired. Renault has held on to the Initiale Paris name, though, using to denote the top trim on cars like the Laguna, Espace, Clio and even the dinky Modus supermini.

Renault doesn't have a bona fide flagship anymore, and but it has bigger plans for a replacement that just slotting a new model in. Automotive News reports that the French firm wants to expand its use of Initiale Paris, starting with an Initiale Paris line within the Renault range sporting added features and more luxury, eventually becoming its own luxury line just as Nissan has with Infiniti. It's not a short-term plan, however, with Chief Operating Officer Carlos Tavares pointing to the 25 years that it has taken Infiniti to reach its current level, so it could be the next decade before there is an Initiale Paris model range.

Intriguingly, a May report on website LeftLaneNews indicated that a Renault flagship is on the way in 2014 or 2015 and is being developed through the Renault-Nissan alliance with Daimler. Although the timeline is sketchy, the idea is bolstered by this statment made by Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn last year, "You'd be very surprised if in five or six years that Mercedes and Renault-Nissan had only cooperated on small cars." LeftLane's intel is that that "Renault will decide on whether or not to launch Initiale Paris before the end of the year," at the same time it decides the fate of Alpine.

Renault's Initiale Paris luxe brand to get phased launch? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 08:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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