Renault Avantime - one of the worst selling cars of all time!

Renault Avantime

1999, whilst a lot of businesses are worrying about the impact of the much-hyped and quickly forgotten millennium bug, Renault has a much bigger going concern: the Renault Avantime which was launched at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show after being shown as a concept earlier in the year at a press launch.

The car came to market in the autumn of September 2001 and came to the UK in early 2002. If you’re wondering why it took so long after the 99 motor show, it’s due to a bit of time spent making that pillar less roof meet safety standards.

Although the car had a special target audience, which we’ll talk about later on, the car was largely the result of an outstanding obligation. Renault had decided to move the production of the Espace away from Matra’s team and factory - not through bad blood - simply because the car was to be made from sheet steel instead of ferrous and composite mix which had been Matra’s specialism.

The idea behind the car was two fold, keep that obligation to Matra but also, create a car which was unforgettable: in fact, the design project manager said he wanted a car which would continually astonish somebody as they walked around the car.

The front engine, front wheel drive Avantime did ambitiously achieve firsts in many areas: the heaviest, longest doors for any car on the market, an astonishing amount of luggage space at 530 litres in the boot and a further 27 litres dotted in spaces around the cabin front and rear which could be increased to 900 litres if utilising the split back seats, an elbow width of 1466mm - 57.7 inches for driver and 1433mm 56.4 inches in the rear - a record in its class.

Renault were incredibly proud of the quality and durability the car was sold with a 12 year anti-corrosion guarantee. Renault also considered life beyond the sales floor with an introduction of anti-intrusion protection and security immobiliser which was developed in accordance with THATCHAM - an added bonus to help reduce the cost of insurance quotes for owners. If you’re wondering how it worked by the way, they did things like protection against door piercing, a strengthened steering column to protect against errant screwdrivers and automatic door and boot locking activated when the car began moving.

If we look at a press release issued to press and Renault dealerships at the time, we can see the company predicted UK sales of 1,500 and together with predicted sales of the Espace and Vel Satis, expected to take a 5.5% share of the exec market. If you’re wondering, they only managed to sell 5,037 in total across all markets in 2002.

The guide price for the cars was £24,000 for the 2 litre turbo dynamic manual and £27,000 for the 3 litre V6 privilege manual.

In terms of your engines, there was the the aforementioned 2 and 3 litre for the UK market but for the overseas LHD market, there was also the 2.2.

Although guide prices only mention manual, the 6 speed manual wasn’t the only transmission option and a 5 speed automatic was also available.

Tech spec for the car is given as an overall on the sales guidance for the time, but they are as follows:

A top speed of 137 miles per hour and MPG of 17.7 for urban driving, 31.7 for extra urban and 25 for combined.

Sadly, for a few reasons including the Avantime being a massive financial drain, Matra decided their time in automotive production was done and dusted and Renault reviewing the poor sales, decided to call time on the Avantime and bring to a close one of the worst selling cars in modern times.