With lots of room and extensive level of spec and tech, this SUV-coupe earns its high price tag The Renault Rafale is nearly five metres long with an acute coupe slope that doesn't hinder head room. I have recently been driving a Renault that costs €60,000 and I asked myself: who is going to buy it? The Rafale is a big SUV-coupe full hybrid with a distinctive profile and a rich cargo of tech and spec. The strange thing about it – well maybe not so strange, as we’ll see – is Renault wants it to tempt buyers of premium cars in this unevenly matched world of brands and badges.
Whatever about wooing such buyers, the Rafale certainly highlights how much our tastes are changing (or being whetted). We want more luxury and spec and we want it wrapped in ever-more extreme shapes and sizes. These SUV-coupes are very much the “in thing” now.
And they are empowering the phenomenon of crossover models from mainstream brands such as Renault to test the market for ways of getting a toe-hold on the premium ladder. Broadly speaking, there are those who aspire to owning a big fashionable car for around the €51,000 mark at which the Rafale starts. There are those who look upwards to see what a €60,000 Renault could do for them over and above what they have.
And there are those who look down from the lofty perches of prestige-badged cars to see how much they might save if they parted ways with their Audi or BMW for a roomier motor. Renault, with the €51,000 Rafale, is well cove.