I had an interesting thought...

"carcrasher88" (carcrasher88) 09/08/2014 at 14:12 • Filed to: Thoughts, Renault, Peugeot, Citroen

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It's about three brands we don't get in the US anymore. Peugeot, Citroen, and Renault.

My thought is basically about smart ways they could bring them back.

Let's start with Renault. Their connection to Nissan is no secret, and that connection could be a great way to bring them back to the US market.

Not by selling them at Nissan dealers, but at Infiniti dealers.

Selling them at Infiniti dealers could limit how much Renaults would interfere with Nissan sales, in somewhat of a similar way selling Buicks alongside GMC instead of Chevrolet works.

The lineup wouldn't be a complete copy of overseas models, instead it would be the most sensible ones that would come over, starting with the newest models, and expanding slightly with others once redesigned.

That would mean models like the Clio, Twingo, Captur, and Trafic could be the introductory models, with the Laguna, Megane, and Espace coming with a future redesign.

Selling these models at a premium level equally between Nissan and Infiniti would also likely help them be successful, in a similar way that Buick is marketed as more premium than a Chevrolet, but not as premium as a Cadillac.

Plus, the F1 connection between Renault and Infiniti probably won't hurt, either.

Then, there's Citroen and Peugeot. These brands have connections with two other companies, which could allow them to be sold at their dealers.

The way I see it, Peugeot could be sold at Toyota dealers, while Citroens get sold at Mitsubishi dealers and/or Lexus dealers.

Citroens would likely be marketed as above Mitsubishi or below Lexus on the 'premium' scale, while Peugeots would be above most Toyotas on the same scale.

Citroen dealers would get the new C1, the C3 Picasso and Aircross, C4 Aircross (which is essentially a more premium Outlander Sport) and Cactus, the entire DS line, Nemo, and for the kicker, a Pentastar V6 powered Relay (essentially the same as the Ram ProMaster) with an exclusive civilian passenger version that Ram doesn't get, to set it apart from the Ram version and not steal many sales from the commercial model offered by Ram.

Peugeot dealers would get a slightly different lineup, with no commercial models, focusing more on passenger cars with more hatchbacks and sedans, as opposed to the more CUV/MPV filled Citroen lineup.

108, 208, 308, 508, RCZ, 2008, and Bipper (this would actually be the passenger model, the Bipper Tepee, but without the Tepee designation, as not to be offensive to some people).

Steve in Manhattan > carcrasher88 09/08/2014 at 14:15

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I was in a taxi in Brussels and mentioned that these three brands were no longer sold in the US. Driver said she had no idea this was the case ....

Vimto > carcrasher88 09/08/2014 at 14:16

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I really like the idea of combining Infiniti with Renault. However, every single model currently in all of their lineups would cost tens of millions of dollars to conform to NHTSA just so they could be sold here.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > carcrasher88 09/08/2014 at 14:17

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The Renault Laguna doesn't exist anymore, the clio is second fiddle to the Fiesta and you already get that, the twingo might do okay with the sort of crowd that buys the 500 so maybe that would work. The Captur might do pretty well to with the crossover crowd who like style over substance. The Megane (other than the excellent renault sport) is a weak car for the class too. I think Renault over there would be a pretty bad idea overall to be honest since the two cars that might sell already have clear better established rivals.

MIATAAAA > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 09/08/2014 at 14:29

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Lagunas for EVERYONE! http://www.renault.fr/gamme-renault/…

They still make them. Maybe not in some countries.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > MIATAAAA 09/08/2014 at 14:31

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Ah thanks for the info, I assumed they'd cut them everywhere since they don't sell them here any more. We actually have a 2010 2 litre diesel one in the family, comfortable quick car but handling is pretty poor. And a 1.9 diesel 2006 wagon that I'm not all too fond of anymore now I've had to work on it, okay to drive and comfortable too though.

carcrasher88 > Vimto 09/08/2014 at 14:43

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That is a good point, but remember: Ford spent what was probably a large amount of money just to get the original Transit Connect to the point where it could be sold here, and that model was nearly a decade old by the time it reached US shores, and we all know how that turned out.

Very good sales numbers, enough to warrant development of the second generation to be able to be sold here right off the bat.

Remember, risk=reward, and the payoff could be pretty big, like in the case of the Transit Connect.

Of course, it could go the other way, too. Case in point, the Saturn Astra.

That came here 4 years after that generation of Opel Astra was first introduced, and some could claim that it was pretty much the death blow to the Saturn brand.

They made it so it would meet safety standards, but they priced it high enough that you could get more modern design cars in it's class with more standard features for less, mainly because of the costs to import it from Belgium, instead of having it built in Ohio, alongside it's Delta platform mates, the G5 and Cobalt.

Case in point, Saturn Astra vs Nissan Sentra. The Sentra's design was only 1 year old in 2008, whereas the Astra was 4 years old.

The Sentra was built in Mexico, so it was cheaper to bring to the US market.

And, you could get a higher trim level Sentra with more features for less than the price of a base XE Astra.

Sure, the Astra had a better powertrain warranty (5 years/100,000 miles) than the Sentra, but you can't sell a car on coverage alone.

Now, Renault does have one other thing on it's side that could help them if they decide to re-enter the US market, and that's Nissan's manufacturing facilities in Mexico.

I'm sure that if Renault wanted to sell cars in the US, Nissan would be more than happy to share some of their Mexican plant's capacity with them, and maybe some of their capacity in Tennessee and Mississippi, as well, as long as Renault's products are premium enough that they won't cannibalize Nissan sales, but not too premium that they cannibalize Infiniti sales, either.

Of course, those costs make them so they meet US standards would likely mean that most models (possibly with the exception of the Twingo, being based on the next smart ForTwo/ForFour) would have to wait for their next-gen versions, unless they can pull a Transit Connect with some of them.

Another exception could be Citroen's C4 Aircross, they could probably just build it alongside the Outlander Sport in Normal, Illinois, since they are (for the most part) the same vehicle, just with the Citroen being a bit more upscale.

carcrasher88 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 09/08/2014 at 14:51

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Well, I guess you could substitute the Laguna with the Fluence.

With the Clio, the best chance of success could be if they bring the RS models as well.

Twingo definitely could do well, especially if smart doesn't bring the ForFour to the US.

I think the Captur would be a great niche model, probably competing most directly with the Mazda CX-5 and maybe the Buick Encore.

The Megane, like mentioned above, would have to wait for a total redesign for it to have a chance to be sucessful.

I think Renault's best chance with their current lineup is with commercial models, considering how popular these Euro vans (Sprinter, Transit, Transit Connect, NV200, ProMaster) coming to the US are becoming.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > carcrasher88 09/08/2014 at 14:58

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I just remembered the clio is auto only as opposed to the manual only Fiesta ST. That could have appeal to those who want a hot hatch but cant drive manual. Still generally regarded as an inferior (and much more expensive) car.

The Captur is more closely matched to the likes ofthe Juke, it's a pretty small car, although I suppose the Encore is a similar size.

The Megane would probably never be successful even with a redesign, being a smallish hatchback and all.

Commercial could work, their vans are apparently fairly reasonable.

carcrasher88 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 09/08/2014 at 15:39

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Good point.

Fact is, the Captur is related to the Juke, both using the same platform.

It could work, if they do it correctly. The best chance of that would be to develop the next Megane and Sentra together on the next generation V platform (the current Sentra is on the current V platform, where the current Megane is based on the older C platform, shared with the previous B16 Sentra).

Indeed, their commercial models are, and they would fit right in with today's commercial van offerings.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > carcrasher88 09/08/2014 at 15:46

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Making the Megane and Sentra together wouldn't be a bad idea actually. They even made a sedan in the past that would be better suited to the US.

carcrasher88 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 09/08/2014 at 16:15

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There ya go! If they put all their ducks in a row, Nissan could be Renault's way back into the US market.