Renault Scenic Electrifies Geneva Motor Show

UK (Commonwealth) _ The all-electric Renault Scenic has won the 2024 title of Europe’s Car of the Year. During an event at the Geneva Motor Show, the French automaker defeated BMW’s 5 Series, which was a fierce rival.

The panel, which consisted of this reporter and 58 other members from 22 other nations, chose The Scenic as the winner. Out of the more than fifty new models that have been released this year, the seven selected finalists receive 25 points from each panel member.

The Scenic received 329 votes, more than the BMW 5 Series, which received 308 points. Both were much ahead of the Kia EV9 (190) and Peugeot 3008 (197), which were tied for third place. The Scenic was the top contender for 22 jurors.

Currently in its 61st year, Renault has won the Car of the Year trophy seven times. The Toyota C-HR received 127 points, the BYD Seal scored 131, and the Volvo EX30 scored 168.

Chief technology officer of the Renault Group, Gilles Le Borgne, accepted the prize and stated, “A few weeks ago, we delivered the best financial results for Renault ever. In 2020, we were deeply in the red.” With predictions of more success to come, he credited the team’s efforts over the last few years for their achievement.

Following several test events throughout the year, the jury determined their scores. During a week-long event in northern Denmark in September of last year, over fifty new automobiles were tested. Known as the Tannis Test, it consists of many testing sessions on a restricted airport where each new model is put through its paces, in addition to driving reviews on public highways. A vehicle going through the Elk Test for Car of the Year during the Tannis Test in Denmark

A renowned slalom course at high speed, mimicking an elk that has unexpectedly arrived on the road and needs to be avoided, is one of the airport tests that the automobiles must pass. This test is more typical for Nordic drivers than it is for Irish drivers. Additionally, modern automobiles are equipped with pedestrian safety and accident avoidance systems, which are checked during the airfield practices as well.

The seven nominated finalists participate in a two-day event at the Ceram proving track near Mortefontaine in France in February after a series of further local test events. Here, the seven finalists—and several versions of them—are put to the test on a variety of road conditions, and engineers are there to address any queries the jury may have and go over the important features of the vehicles in depth.

Phil McNamara, group editor of Car magazine, stated of the Scenic, “There are a lot of midsize electric crossovers but the keenly-priced Scenic is one of the very best,” when jury members were asked to justify their choices. Andrew English, a Daily Telegraph jury member from the UK, stated: “It’s the greatest affordable -priced family car on offer, thus it receives high marks from me.

The car manufactured by French automaker Renault is known as the Scénic (French pronunciation: [senik]), which is often spelled without the acute emphasis as “Scenic” in languages other than French. It was the first vehicle in Europe to be classified as a compact multi-purpose vehicle (MPV). The first generation was built on the Mégane, a compact family vehicle. When it debuted in November 1996, it won the title of 1997 European Car of the Year.  Renault declared in May 2022 that it will be ending production of the regular Scénic and launching the Grand Scénic soon after. It will be reintroduced in 2024 as the Renault Scénic E-Tech, a completely electric car that is the production version of the 2022-presented Renault Scénic Vision concept. The production version will be unveiled on September 4, 2023, at the Munich Motor Show.

The Renault Scénic RX4 four-wheel drive variant was introduced with the first generation facelifted Scénic and was later discontinued with the release of the Scénic II. The Grand Scénic variant, available in the second, third, and fourth versions, includes seven seats instead of five. Due to cost-cutting initiatives, the fourth generation (2016) of the Scénic has 1/3-2/3 bench rear seats instead of the three separate rear seats used in the previous three versions.