Renault aims to reclaim lost ground with minivan turned SUV

The minivan is dead, long live the SUVan. Renault has revamped the elderly Espace people carrier as a crossover sport utility vehicle as it seeks to relive the marque's past glories. Illustrating a market shift to more rugged-looking vehicles, the fifth Espace - smaller than its predecessors but still gargantuan by European standards - made its debut at the Paris auto show on Thursday, 30 years after the first model was unleashed on European consumers who hadn't yet realized they wanted one. Like the Chrysler Voyager that narrowly preceded it - and contributed to the North American cult of the "soccer mom" - the Renault Espace created a whole new market for large minivans and swiftly became a hit for its maker.

via Business News http://ift.tt/1tje03w