The CEO of Renault, Carlos Tavares, is convinced that the uninspiring lines of the Laguna may have dented its sales appeal, and “it’s possible that because the rear of the hatchback is a little bit strange, this has damaged the potential of the other cars” (the estate and coupe models), he was quoted as saying by Autocar magazine.
“We need to continue to work on appeal,” he said, adding that “if you look at the new cars — Zoe, Captur and Clio — you understand what I mean. It is about having character without being strange.”
According to the UK publication, the new Laguna, which is due in 2014-2015 will get “fluid and emotional” styling, which it will share with the likes of the new Clio, Captur and Zoe models – the Wind, I think also shows evidence of good design.
Mechanically, the Laguna was never a bad car, with a good chassis, decent choice of engines, and even four-wheel steering offered on the higher-spec GT models made it an interesting buy – the latter, according to Renault’s own promo videos made it faster through a tight chicane (made of cones) than both a Porsche Boxster and Subaru Impreza WRX. In addition, while the hatchback and estate may have not been lookers, the Coupe was easily the best of the three, visually.
However, it has not been mentioned whether the new Laguna will get a two-door variant, as the current one isn’t terribly successful in terms of sales.
By Andrei Nedelea
Note: Current Renault Laguna Estate pictured
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