It is a perception amongst buyers of expensive vehicles that “proper” luxury cars have rear-wheel drive or, sometimes, all-wheel drive, but never front-wheel drive.
Whether that is true is immaterial; it is sufficiently widely held that Renault, which does not have a rear-wheel drive platform, has struggled in recent years to sell its range-topping Espace, Laguna and, especially Vel Satis models.
That's not the only reason (frankly, the Laguna is boring and pretentious, while the Vel Satis was just plain horrid, and unreliable to boot) but it's an important one.
So it made sense when Renault/Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn commented during an interview on France Inter radio last week that he would use Renault's tie-up with Daimler to collaborate on a new luxury sedan.
SHARING THE GOOD STUFF
Renault (and, with it Nissan) formed their strategic partnership with Daimler, agreeing to share platforms and powertrains, in 2010 and, as far back as the Frankfurt show in September 2011, Ghosn said Renault was considering using a Mercedes platform for a future premium model - although he wouldn't say which one.
Renault has said it plans to replace is Espace, Laguna and Vel Satis models from 2014, starting with the Espace.
Now, given the French flair for stylish yet practical MPV interiors and smooth, wind-cheating exteriors, allied to solid Stuttgart B-Class underpinnings, frugal Renault diesel engines and reliable Japanese electronics, the result is likely to turn the premium MPV class on its ear - and could possibly put a dent in VW and Peugeot/Citroen market shares.
A REAL WINNER
Take that two steps further: a Laguna replacement on a C-Class platform would undoubtedly out-style the German donor car and, with the right combination of strong diesels and rear-wheel drive, could conceivably outsell it - in France if nowhere else!
Certainly it would be a quantum-leap improvement on the underwhelming Laguna.
But the cherry on the top would definitely be the Vel Satis replacement - and such is the reputation of that temperamental mechanical mistress that we would urge Renault not to use the same name.
Based on the sophisticated E-Class platform, using the best of Daimler's fully-developed V6 engines in both spark and compression-ignition format and, of course, rear-wheel drive, with a long, smooth, drop-dead gorgeous Gallic silhouette and that je ne sais quoi that the French do so well, it could just be a real winner for Ghosn after years of embarrassing failures in the luxury market.
ECONOMIES OF SCALE
More importantly, with Daimler providing all the really expensive bits off the shelf, it would not be prohibitively expensive to develop and could possibly even sell at a profit, given economies of scale across both brands.
The meat and potatoes of the Daimler/Renault partnership will, of course, be the new Smart ForFour, which will share its platform with and be built alongside the next-generation Twingo at the Novo Meste plant in Slovenia, and new four-cylinder petrol engines from Nissan to power entry-level Mercedes and Infiniti models, starting in 2014.
But a combination of E-Class class, French flair and, especially, rear-wheel drive… now that would bear watching.