A major player on the small car scene, Renault has a track record on larger cars too. It was first to market with a mid-range front wheel drive hatchback, for example. The Renault 16 of 1960s was a radical design and so, to an extent, were the even larger 20 and 30 models afterwards. With the launch of the first Megane in 1995 it came up again with a competitive lower medium “Euro-Hatch”.

Apart from getting in early on the trend to differentiate between 'sporty' three- and 'family' five-door variants, saloon, estate and folding hard-top coupe-cabriolet models came too. The real innovation here, however, was the first Scenic in 1996. By offering a down-sized Espace concept the Megane ushered in the first Compact MPV – and shook up the whole lower-medium sector.