"I want to see a lot of load volume," said Renault CEO Pierre Dreyfus, who was in office from 1955 to 1975, to his employees when he commissioned them to develop the Renault 4. The designers solved the task with an innovation that triggered a small revolution: the large tailgate. With its fifth door and flat floor, the Renault 4 was simultaneously a sedan, station wagon and delivery van. Hugues, Managing Director of Renault Classic, takes a look back at the hatchback revolution started by Renault.
The Renault 4 was launched in 1961 at a time of social change: More and more people in France were leaving rural life behind and moving to the cities. However, access to public transport still left a lot to be desired, especially in the suburbs. The need arose for a car that was suitable for both rural and urban areas. A car that could be used to go shopping and to work. More and more women were also working at this time, and the purchasing power of households began to increase. Against this backdrop, the R4 with its hatchback offered the ideal solution for life in the city and in the countryside.
"The hatchback revolutionized the automobile by allowing greater modularity of the interior." Hugues, Managing Director Renault Classic
The fifth door quickly made the R4 a phenomenon for society as a whole - in the spirit of its initiator Pierre Dreyfus. He had explained to his employees that he wanted a lot of cargo space for a "car like a pair of blue jeans" - a car that would appeal to people of all ages and social classes. The concept worked: In over 30 years, Renault sold more than eight million R4s in more than 100 countries. "The R4 hatchback created a new industry standard and a new type of vehicle," says Hugues. "A vehicle that was a saloon, estate and commercial vehicle all in one."
Thanks to the tailgate, the R4 was easy to load - from bales of straw to camping equipment, it offered enough space even for bulky cargo. In addition, the fifth door enabled greater interior modularity and made the R4 the first "car to live in". "The tailgate showed that the engineers could deviate from the traditional structure of hood, passenger compartment and trunk," explains Hugues. "The fifth door allowed greater freedom in terms of design. New vehicle types such as monospace or SUVs could only be realized as a result."
Classless rear trick
Following the success of the R4, Renault decided to introduce the large tailgate to the more traditional family saloon segment. In 1965, the Renault 16 heralded the concept of the hatchback in the upper class.
"With the Renault 16 came the realization that tailgates in family and luxury models are not an obstacle to sales." Hugues, Managing Director Renault Classic
In fact, any model could have a large tailgate, including sedans, coupes and city cars. Renault began developing a wide range of hatchbacks such as the R20 and R30, the Fuego, the R25 and the R11. When the Marreau brothers won the Paris-Dakar Rally in a Renault 20 in 1982, hatchbacks once again came into the limelight.
Perfect concept for the Renault Arkana
In the Renault range, the Arkana stands out as the ambassador of a new generation of hatchbacks. "The hatchback fits perfectly with this SUV/sedan crossover," says Hugues. "The Arkana has a sleek, elegant design and yet proves to be extremely practical. The hatchback body provides a spacious, easily accessible interior that allows more payload than a partitioned trunk." In short, it is the ideal car to transport a golf bag - and still offers enough space for a bale of straw.
