Year of Renault Megane

"megane" redirects here.

The Renault Mégane is a small family car produced by the French automaker Renault since 1995. It is offered in 3- and 5-door hatchback, saloon, coupé, convertible and station wagon bodystyles. The Renault Scénic (launched 1996) is the first modern compact MPV to be built in Europe[citation needed], and is based on the Mégane floorpan.

The Mégane I was unveiled in the autumn of 1995, as a replacement of the Renault 19. The car was essentially a reskin of its predecessor, and carried over the 19's floorpan, engines, transmissions and chassis design, albeit with much modification. Taking its name from a Renault concept car shown in 1988, the Mégane further developed the new corporate styling theme introduced by Patrick Le Quément on the Laguna, most notably the "bird-beak" front grille - a styling cue borrowed from the legendary Renault 16 of the 1960s. As with the 19 and the 11 before it, the Mégane was produced in Renault's Douai plant in northern France, and in the Spanish plant of Palencia.

Safety was a key focus of the Megane I, Renault's first car reflecting their new focus of selling on safety. It featured a pillar-mounted 3-point seatbelt for the middle-rear occupant (replacing the common 'lap strap'), standard front belt pre-tensioners and load limiters, driver's airbag and an impressive safety structure - a specification ahead of most rivals in 1995. Some features, such as the 3-point middle belt, had debuted on the Renault 19 safety concept vehicle (and in fact this feature entered production on the Renault Laguna before the Megane). The car also benefited from Renaults first "System for Restraint and Protection" (SRP), essentially a system of careful optimisation of occupant restraint by interaction of the seat, seatbelt, pretensioner, load limiter and airbag. Megan I achieved a best-in-class 4-star crash test rating in the 1998 round of testing by EURONCAP.

1997 saw the introduction of the Mégane Scénic compact MPV.

Power came from the Renault E-type ("Energy") engine in 1.4L, 1.6L, 1.8L, and the F-type unit in both 1.9L diesel and 2.0L petrol form, although this time around there was a wider variety of 16-valve derivatives. A 1.9L diesel engine in both normally aspirated and turbocharged forms was also available.

Renault also produced a limited number of Renault sport edition phase 1's with the Renaultsport bodywork, however these were very rare. The Renaultsport kit was available to purchase for a short time direct from Renault France, but has now been discontinued, thus their value has increased.

Phase 2 (1999-2002):

A mild facelift in 1999 gave the Mégane I a modified grille, more advanced safety features and upgraded equipment, and the 16-valve engines were used across the range. It is still being produced by Renault Argentina, where it is sold alongside the Megane II line at a considerably lower price.

Phase 3 (2002-present):

In Venezuela, Argentina and Colombia the original Megane is still available. It features the LA04 engine (16 valve, 1.6 liters and 110 HP), and is produced by both Renault Colombia and Argentina, in where it is one of the best-selling cars to date. It is a car with more advanced safety features, upgraded equipment and more. The Mégane I costs less than the Mégane II. Both remain available.