The next generation Renault Scenic will be an all-electric SUV alternative to the new Renault Austral.
We’ve landed our first look at Renault’s new Scenic, which is set to take on an all-new bodystyle as it transitions into an SUV. Renault is undergoing a so-called ‘Renaulution’ at the minute, with the legendary 5 and 4 returning as EVs and the Scenic is set to get a fully-electrified powertrain, too.
The old Scenic MPV was removed from Renault’s model range in 2021 and its replacement has already been teased by the Scenic Vision Concept in May of 2022, which previewed the styling direction that the new Scenic will take. Now the production version, which will be similar in size to the hybrid-only Renault Austral SUV, has been spotted undergoing development for the first time.
The new Renault Scenic will use the all-electric CMF-EV platform that made its debut in the new Renault Megane E-Tech. Whereas the Megane is a competitor for Volkswagen’s ID.3 hatch, the Scenic will be a larger car, rivalling the ID.4 SUV. The same CMF-EV architecture also underpins the Nissan Ariya.
Lead designer Gilles Vidal, said the Scenic Vision Concept’s exterior design is “more than 90 per cent production car”. As for the interior, the concept’s yoke-style steering wheel and intricately detailed dash won’t make its way onto the finished Scenic.
Despite the heavy camouflage on the test cars pictured, we can see the headlights leading into the bonnet line and a rather bluff front end – just like the concept’s. The wheelarch trim may be black to give the Scenic a chunkier look and the window sweeps upwards to the rear pillar in a similar vein to the Clio supermini.
There’s not much given away at the rear, aside from the lights sitting along a crease that wraps around the rear of the car. There’s also a sporty roof spoiler.
We expect the Scenic E-Tech Electric will go on sale in 2024 and it will be distanced from the new electric Megane according to Renault boss, Luca De Meo: “We are not going to do another MPV; we’re going to make a more progressive model than that.” He added that the Scenic would need to offer “space and range” beyond that of the new Megane.
The new Scenic will only be available as a five-seater. When asked at last year’s Munich Motor Show if the CMF-EV platform could support seven seats, Renault’s executive vice-president of engineering, Gilles Le Borgne, told us: “No, it’s not planned to do that. We can have four-wheel drive, but not three rows.”
That doesn’t rule out a new seven-seat Grand Scenic model on a revised CMF-EV platform at some stage – similar to the new Espace which is essentially a stretched seven-seat version of the Austral. And Le Borgne’s comments did imply that a successor to the four-wheel-drive RX4 version of the original Scenic would be technically possible.