The All New Renault Megane – A Breath of French Air

•Mark Musutu For more than a century, the renowned diamond inspired logo has been the badge gracing many cars, vans, trucks, tractors, tanks, buses, coaches and auto rail.

Renault Motors was founded on 25 February 1899 in France by three brothers – Louis, Marcel and Ferdinand Renault.

Renault strategically partnered with Nissan in 1999 in a cross shareholding agreement (not a merger or acquisition as perceived). This has seen it become the fourth largest auto company after Toyota, GM and VW.

The Renault Nissan Group has an amazing business portfolio including: Infiniti, Datsun, Mitsubishi, Dacia, Venucia, Lada, a stake in Daimler AG, a stake in Volvo trucks , 43% of Nissan, 37% of Auto Vaz of Russia, Renault Samsung from South Korea and Renault Trucks, which also owns the German agriculture giant Claas.

One of the stars from this auto giant is the Renault Megane. Taking the Megane name from the Renault Megane concept car of 1988, the Renault Megane was first introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1995 with safety as its strongest selling point. It has since been offered as a saloon, a hatch, an estate, a coupe and a convertible.

The first Megane was Europe’s best seller for the late 90s and the second did well. The Megane has been a European bench mark hatch for about two decades, though with the influx of luxury cars such as BMW and Mercedes into the segment and the phenomenal success of the Golf, sales have been turbulent in the recent past. In an effort to regain the best seller status, Renault has come up with a bigger hatch and loaded it with a host of features.

Renault in general has a trademark touch of oddness and a rather controversial styling. They very often make rowdy cars, for example the Duster. This touch is present on the Meganne but in a much more toned down way.

Renault has been able to fuse this trait with trendy designs and the results are awesome. The Megane borrows much of its styling from the Renault Talisman, particularly its front, gorgeous hook shaped head lamps and rear LED lights. It doesn’t fall short in design and it doesn’t fall short in French character, which includes large head lamps and the trademark Renault sporty squat. The Megane is certainly a segment bench mark in terms of design.

The interior fascia has a large tablet sized screen and large dials, it’s reminiscent to an Apple or Nintendo product (in appearance and application). On first impression, the touch screen looks smart and makes many displays seem too small. The interior is plain smart and simple, nothing like its razzmatazz exterior.

Every car has a distinct and a defined market and the Megane appeals more to those with a conservative and/or contemporary bias in the hatch market.

Features include: Electrically-operated mirrors and seats, massage function, full house Bose sound, dual climate control, keyless go, head up display, multi-sense function that adapts the behavior of your vehicle to your mood as well as R-link connectivity. There’s also a host of frivolous functions such as changing the dashboard background colours, adjusting sensitivity of the steering and gear lever, mood lighting or even changing the engine note. You can further download more apps.

Safety technology is up to date, it includes systems such as blind-spot and lane-departure warnings, emergency autonomous braking, traffic-sign recognition and a rear-view camera. You can also opt for a hands-free parking system, which will seek out and park the car in a slot or at the side of the road also known as park assist.

The Renault Megane is not made to be a high performance car, but rather a dynamic driving and comfort rider. Renaults are decent cruisers with a touch of ferociousness. The entry-level Megane Dynamique version is a 1,6 litre delivering 84kW and 156Nm, available in five-speed manual only.

More power is available in the hot hatch GT Line which comes with a 97kW/205Nm 1,2 litre turbo petrol engine and a choice of six-speed manual or a seven-speed dual-clutch auto called EDC.

The Megane is held on the road by its 4Control technology; the four-wheel steering provides unique agility and responsiveness when tackling curves, bends and hairpin bends. It can be set to eco, comfort, neutral, sport or personal driving modes.

Renault Nissan has invested four billion euro (about N$59,6 billion) into the electric vehicle frenzy and results are evident such as a more than reasonable fuel economy. The engine features a start-stop system so you will not waste fuel while sitting at a traffic light, and the seventh gear allows economical driving at highway speeds.

The Megane is an outstandingly designed car and a firm, comfortable ride. It has a smart and simple interior and packs a host of wizardry, much of which we never knew existed. It has decent power giving it a dynamic comfy ride or drive. It’s simply too good to pass by.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.