Renault's six steps to success

Renault has revealed a two-year plan where it will release six concept cars over 24 months to show the design direction the company will take.

The plan is spearheaded by chief designer Laurens van der Acker, who describes it as Renault's 'cycle of life'.

Van der Acker joined Renault from Mazda a year ago and said the first car he wanted to do was a sportscar.

'It wasn't easy in the beginning,' he said. 'Renault had a reputation where design was going down. Renault asked for a breakthrough. The talent had always been there, I felt I had to manage the creativity.

'So I asked to do a sportscar immediately and that's why we have the DeZir in Paris.'

The first car in the cycle of life is 'Love' which is represented in the DeZir electric car. It will be followed by themes such as 'Explore', 'Starting a family' and the cycle will be completed by 'Wisdom'.

'One of the reasons we started the concept car strategy was to find a solution [to what Renault stands for],' explained van der Acker. 'We've set out on a path and we will get there. On the journey we will learn along the way.'

Renault design needs to have mass appeal, said van der Acker. 'More cheeseburger than sushi, more Britney Spears than Bjork. We need to please.'

At the Geneva motor show next spring, Renault will reveal two concept cars, one of which will be a crossover, possibly with three doors, that represent 'Explore'.

'This will be a crossover,' said van der Acker. 'It won't be utilitarian, but it needs to be more dynamic than a traditional 4x4. Land Rover is really perfect [in its execution of 4x4 design]. We need to find our own way of expressing that.'