Renault Scénic

The Renault Scénic (French pronunciation: [senik]), also spelled without the acute accent as Scenic, especially in languages other than French, is a car which was produced by French car manufacturer Renault, the first to be labelled as a small multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) in Europe. The first generation was based on the chassis of the Mégane, a small family car. It became the 1997 European Car of the Year on its launch in November 1996. In May 2022 Renault announced it was discontinuing the standard Scénic with the Grand Scénic following shortly after. It was relaunched in 2024 as a fully electric vehicle called the Renault Scénic E-Tech which is the production version of the Renault Scénic Vision concept unveiled in 2022, with the production version to be unveiled at the 2023 Munich Motor Show on September 4.

The first generation facelifted Scénic added a four-wheel drive model called the Renault Scénic RX4, which was discontinued by the arrival of the Scénic II. The second, third and fourth generations have a model called Grand Scénic, which has seven seats rather than five. From the fourth generation (2016), the Scénic now utilizes 1/3-2/3 bench rear seats instead of three individual rear seats used in previous three generations, due to cost-cutting measures.

First generation (1996)

The Mégane Scénic can be traced back to a concept car of 1991, the Renault S.C.E.N.I.C. (Safety Concept Embodied in a New Innovative Car) designed under the supervision of Anne Asensio, then designer at Renault. The production vehicle, the Mégane Scénic was launched in November 1996. It was marketed as a multi purpose vehicle, in a smaller size and lower price than such vehicles as Renault's own Espace.