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With respect, a car's 'sucess' depends not on being 'good' as you suggest, but popular. Not the same thing. 'Popular' can be, well, all the ghastly little runabouts you see covering our roads everywhere, without, I might add, a shred of good design, engineering or anything unusual to commend them. Except maybe price. Often not even reliablility.
So let's be clear what Reanult were trying to achieve with the Avantime. They had a clear idea of the market segment they were after, or trying to create, but misjudged it. Avantime came, remember, from the Espace stable and more recently Megane - in fact quite a line of new concept cars. Markets were created for each one. Years ago they played the same game with the Matra and the Fuego, remember? All those did OK - and were different.
Avantime was aiming to be an upmarket posermobile - striking - even arty, lively and comfy for people swanning around the South of France, Paris and so forth. It was never intended to be sporty, not an estate car. It was 30-, 40- and 50-somethings who'd become quite successful and wanted a style statement, a way to show it off with some style and originality: riding above the traffic in roomy comfort, very plush seats, vast windows and sundroof and a guarnteed head-turner. With existing parts from Safrane, Esapce etc. it was to be reliable and inexpensive to run - for what it was. In marketing terms, a very clever idea.
How many of those objectives did they fulfil? In my book, every one. Pity is, the market didn't (as per usual) have the originality, courage or imagination to get the message. But my point is: does that make Avantime (which incidentally translates as ' before its time') a bad car? Only if you're stupid, a stick-in-the-mud with ultra-conservative and dull tastes, and understand nothing about designing cars people must be made to want. Which is what the motor indistry is mainly about. The job ic to create desire that they the industry then fulfila. It isn't much to do with bringing out new, useful, practical machines that don't go wrong (what fantasy planet have you been living on?). Unless you buy a Saab (which I now drive, after being an Alfa lover), Volvo, VW or perhaps a Merc. Almost everything else is about image - style over substance.
So don't be too harsh on the poor Avantime. I find them easy and comfy to drive, not speedy but reasonably quick and quiet. Roomy for two people's luggage, which is what it's designed for, AND they make you feel special. Not many cars do that. They're NOT for families or famers or sales execs with pathetic egos that need to impress everyone purely by what they drive (poor b******s) rather than what they think or do.
Whatever you may say about Renault (and don't we love to take the p*** in this country?), they're in fact one of the few genuinely innovative and original mass manufactuers left. The rest of the herd copy each other like so many sheep, excepting perhaps Saab, Citroen, and a few others who still build in quirky elements to make their cars a little different. Otherwise it's a rush to be all the same, almost everywhere.
Am I wrong?
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