The availability of cheaper and frugal cars has always been very much in the French national psyche, taking advantage of domestic tax laws. Thanks to their high gearing and lower-capacity low-stress engines, they were ideal for the fuel crisis. The brand had been a regular sight on British high streets since the late 1940s and in 1972, Renault became the UK’s biggest European importer.
Taking over the 4CV and Dauphne models, the R8/R10/1100 series were appreciated for their practicality and comfort. One of the final developments of the rear-engined models of the ’60s, their rally pedigree did much to enhance the model’s success.
Their first volume seller was the R12. It was fairly conventional by French standards, the Brits were swayed by its robust engineering, comfort and frugality.
The R16 established itself very quickly in France when introduced in 1965, acting as a practical alternative to the Citroen DS, and becoming an intrinsic part of French life. After the R16s set the trend for the modern hatchback, Renault was rewarded with even more accolades with the R5 and by the end of the 70s, Renault had sold 85,000 5’s in the UK.
The R4 was marketed as a utility car way back in 1961. At its peak, it sold around 6,000 cars a year in the UK, maybe buyers were put off by its utilitarian image but it outsold its 2CV rival here by some margin. The R4’s concept was sound, so cleverly, Renault re-bodied the car added a host of creature comforts and rebadged it as the R6. Later versions used bigger engines which boosted sales.
The next car to make an impact was the R14, Renault’s answer to the Golf. Good to drive with plenty of showroom appeal, the R14 maintained Renault UK share, as the older designs wound down production. Renault’s other notable big seller of this era was the conventional R18. In its first full year of production in 1979, it outsold the likes of the Triumph Dolomite and Chrysler Avenger, selling an impressive 30,000 cars.
The natural successor to the R16 was the R20/R30 series of cars, bigger and more refined than the 1960s R16, the success of the new hatchbacks was hampered by the R16’s popularity, and many felt that the newer designs didn’t offer that much of an advance over the older car. Renault sold over 600,000 cars between 1969 and 1979, just beating Datsun as the biggest importer of cars sold in the UK.