Renault to shed ‘soldier’s auto’ image in Turkey

Emre Özpeynirci ISTANBUL / Hürriyet

Renault’s plant in the western province of Bursa is seen above. The company plans to re-invent its image in Turkey. Hürriyet photo

With hip new designs French auto-maker Renault is determined to erase its image as a “soldier’s car,” a result of its Turkish partnership with Oyak (Armed Forces Pension Fund), according to a senior executive at the Oyak.

The automaker aims to erase the image with a design renaissance starting with the new Clio.
“I liked the new Clio very much. Renault has made such an ambitious design for the first time. Frankly, most Renault models had an image of being a ‘soldier’s car,’ which stemmed from its partner Oyak. Boring design played a role in this image, too, but Renault will shed this image in Turkey for the first time,” the executive said.

Clio 4 is the first example of Renault’s so-called design renaissance, which will provide customers a “tailor-made car” option.

“Customer will be able to choose [several] features for the Clio 4. A purchase order and customer choices will be passed over to the factory in [the western province of] Bursa simultaneously. Then the car will be rolled off the assembly line,” the executive said.

Renault’s Bursa plant will manufacture the Clio 4 which runs on liquefied natural gas along with the model’s automatic shifting version.

The length of the Clio 4 model is longer than its predecessor reaching 4.05 meters with a height that is 5 centimeters shorter.

Oyak Renault managed to start production of the Clio 4 and its various versions despite objections from former French president Nicolas Sarkozy to keep jobs in France.