Is the new most expensive Renault at its best with a more sporting plug-in hybrid powertrain?
As Renault continues to relentlessly fire new cars into the market, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to remember which of its models does what. This is especially true for the firm’s flagship, the Renault Rafale.This coupé-crossover, named after a 1930s racing aeroplane, doesn’t quite line up directly against anything else on sale right now, in terms of shape, size and price.Renault has big plans for this new-age Safrane (is that too tenuous?) to butt heads with the closest BMW and Audi equivalents and has priced it to give it a fighting chance of doing so. The Rafale is, in case you’ve (understandably) lost count, Renault’s seventh SUV, effectively slotting into the Rizla-thin gap between the technically related Austral and seven-seat Espace, with which it shares its fundamental chassis. While those SUVs are practically minded family cars through and through, this one is aimed much more obviously at the executive market, with a more overt premium aura and more heavily accentuated dynamic credentials. Renault has lofty ambitions to upset the German stalwarts in this segment, with the likes of the Audi Q3 and BMW X2 mentioned as benchmarks, and bosses are confident that while the Rafale takes the brand into new price territory, there is substantial market demand for such a car.
Source: Autocar
