About Renault Cars
A French automaker within an international partnership, Renault has been making cars for more than 100 years. Founded by three brothers (Louis, Fernand, and Marcel Renault), the company sold its first car in 1898. By 1903 Renault had a contract to supply a fleet of taxis that were soon ubiquitous in major cities. The company was an early adopter of mass production and efficiency techniques, diversifying into commercial truck manufacturing early on. By 1909 Louis Renault controlled the company as one brother had died, and the other retired. The company’s products remained diverse, with aircraft engines, ammunition, and tanks were manufactured by Renault during World War I, and tractors and industrial machines up until 1930. In the 1930s Citroen replaced Renault as the top auto manufacturer, but Renault’s diversity of products (and a tough stance against labor union movements) helped the company regain the top spot, where it remained for another 50 years.
After World War II Louis Renault was accused of collaboration with the Nazis and died in jail. The French government took an ownership stake in the company in 1945, heavily influencing production and labor decisions. In 1979 Renault bought a stake in American Motors Corp. (AMC), beginning a period of partnering and collaborating with other auto manufacturers to expand its reach, including with AMC’s Jeep models, Mack trucks, and Volvo. In 1996 the French government privatized all but 15 percent of the company and in 1999 Renault entered a cross-ownership deal with Japanese carmaker Nissan. The alliance, which now includes Mitsubishi, is the third-largest automaker in the world with about 1.6 million vehicles produced per year but in 2019 the collaboration appeared unstable, with members looking to outside partnerships.
Quick Facts
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Renault Le Car
is the most-recalled Renault vehicle
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Renault Fuego
has the most trims available with 13 variations released
Average Pricing for Renault Popular models
| Popular Renault Models | Average Price |
|---|
Interesting Facts About Renault
Many of the manufacturer’s early autos were large luxury models, some with wheelbases of 12 feet. The six-cylinder models from 1927 had spring suspension in the rear which aided driver control as the vehicles were capable of speeds of up 90 m.p.h.
The company that struggled with competition and the need to make a “people’s car” finally in 1946 put a new, rear-engine, midsize car into production, the 4CV, which rivaled popular Volkswagens and Morris vehicles and sold 500,000 models. The next model, the Dauphine, was similarly successful, selling 2 million from 1956-1967, including in Africa and North America.
Georges Besse was the director of Renault in 1986 when far-left activists from the Action Directe organization assassinated him at his Paris home. Some blamed Besse for laying off Renault workers during a period of belt-tightening at the company.
Only two autos have won the European Car of the Year, including the Renault Clio, a supermini that was designed to replace the popular Renault 5. The Clio’s debut in 1991 and updated Mk3 version in 1994 were both Cars of the Year.
Along with producing race cars, Renault pioneered the minivan with its Espace model in 1984. The design was actually created by the rival Citroen company, which decided it was too risky to produce. The Renault Espace became wildly popular, selling about 350,000 by 2002.
Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and chairman of the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance was arrested in 2019 for not disclosing his salary and benefits to company shareholders. The controversy contributed to concerns that the alliance was doomed (Nissan was also in secret partnership talks with Fiat Chrysler). After being excused from his leadership positions he settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a $1 million fine, but Nissan was charged another $15 million in civil penalties.
A partnership with China’s Jiangling automaker seeks to expand Renault’s electric vehicle market to the growing opportunities in that country. Renault’s share of the company is starting at $144 million and is expected to increase to 50 percent ownership. Electric car sales hit nearly 2 million units in 2019.
How to Identify and Decode Renault VINs
WMI
The first three digits of all U.S. vehicles are known as the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI). The WMI identifies the manufacturing company and the country of origin. Many VINs also include series or body information in the WMI, including when a specific manufacturing plant builds either cars, trucks, or both.
Renault vehicles began using a standardized form of U.S. VINs in 1981. The last Renault vehicles sold in the U.S. were the model year 1992. The first digit of the WMI is the country of origin identifier. Renault vehicles are produced in the following countries and are identified by the following codes:
| 1, 4, 5 | United States |
| 2 | Canada |
| 3 | Mexico |
| J | Japan |
| K | Korea |
| S | UK |
| V | France, Spain |
| T | Switzerland |
| W | Germany |
| Y | Sweden/ Finland |
| Z | Italy |
The second and third character of the WMI identifies the manufacturing company. Renault uses the following WMI codes based on where the vehicle was built.
| KNM | Renault Samsung |
| MEE | Renault India |
| UU1 | Renault Dacia, (Romania) |
| VF1 | Renault |
| VF2 | Renault |
| VF6 | Renault (Trucks & Buses) |
| VNV | Renault-Nissan |
| X7L | Renault AvtoFramos (Russia) |
| 8A1 | Renault Argentina |
| 93Y | Renault Brazil |
| 9FB | Renault Colombia |
The fourth through eighth characters identify specifics about the Renault vehicle.
The fourth character identifies the body type. There is currently no standardized list detailing the various codes used by Renault to denote body styles, as these codes have changed multiple times.
The fifth character denotes the model series. The most common codes used by Renault to identify vehicle models are:
| 0 | Twingo |
| 1 | R4 |
| 2 | R25 |
| 3 | R4 |
| 4 | R21 / Express |
| 5 | Clio I / Laguna / R19 / Safrane |
| A | Megane I / Master |
| B | Clio II |
| C | Kangoo |
| D | Master |
| E | Espace III / Avantime |
| G | Laguna II |
| H | Master Propulsion |
| J | Vel Satis / New Traffic |
| K | Espace IV |
| L | Trafic |
| M | Megan II |
| P | Modus |
| S | Logan / Sandero / Duster / Dokker / Lodgy |
Renault uses characters six through eight to identify the engine group, displacement, and family. There are no complete lists of all the various codes used to identify the engine information.
The character in position nine is typically used as a check digit that can be used to verify the validity of a VIN. Conflicting information implies that Renault did not use a check number instead of using a random character to fill the ninth spot.
Position 10 identifies the model year of the vehicle.
| A | 1980, 2010 |
| B | 1981, 2011 |
| C | 1982, 2012 |
| D | 1983, 2013 |
| E | 1984, 2014 |
| F | 1985, 2015 |
| G | 1986, 2016 |
| H | 1987, 2017 |
| J | 1988, 2018 |
| K | 1989, 2019 |
| L | 1990, 2020 |
| M | 1991, 2021 |
| N | 1992, 2022 |
| P | 1993, 2023 |
| R | 1994, 2024 |
| S | 1995, 2025 |
| T | 1996, 2026 |
| U | 1997, 2027 |
| W | 1998, 2028 |
| X | 1999, 2029 |
| Y | 2000, 2030 |
| 1 | 2001, 2031 |
| 2 | 2002, 2032 |
| 3 | 2003, 2033 |
| 4 | 2004, 2034 |
| 5 | 2005, 2035 |
| 6 | 2006, 2036 |
| 7 | 2007, 2037 |
| 8 | 2008, 2038 |
| 9 | 2009, 2039 |
Positions 11 through 17 are the serial numbers. The serial number identifies the specific point in the production of which the vehicle was made. It is important to remember that the serial number is not a consecutive number. A smaller or larger number does not indicate early or late production. Instead, the serial number is a manufacturer-specific code that permits identification.
Safety and Recalls for Renault Cars
Renault Captur vehicles with diesel engines made in Europe between February and September 2015 have been recalled for emissions issues. The recall affects over 15,000 autos produced for the European market.
Renault Recalls
Renault had 78 from 1980 to 2024 of which the most recalled model is 1981 Renault 18i and the least is 1982 Renault Le Car. Renault had the most recalled during 1985.
| Model | Number of Recalls |
|---|---|
| 1981 Renault 18i #1 with most recalls | 5 |
| 1985 Renault Sportwagon #2 with most recalls | 3 |
| 1985 Renault Fuego #3 with most recalls | 1 |
| 1984 Renault Sportwagon #4 with most recalls | 1 |
| 1983 Renault 18i #5 with most recalls | 1 |
| 1982 Renault Le Car #6 with most recalls | 1 |
