Renault has opened a new flagship showroom in London's Battersea Power Station shopping centre, designed to show off its dramatically evolved brand image and new-generation electric cars to the British public.
Similar in its conception to the shopping centre showrooms operated by Polestar, Tesla and Genesis, the new 'Rnlt' store is "designed to provide visitors with a comprehensive and immersive experience of the Renault brand".
It is the latest in a fast-growing network of these new urban showrooms, which Renault's chief marketing officer Arnaud Bellouni told Autocar has been designed to address the lack of brand visibility in cities.
"We don't see dealerships any more in city centres," he said. "So I decided to think about a retail concept which is the right one to display [Renault's EVs] in city centres."
The Rnlt spaces – the name contracted to reflect the stores' smaller footprints than traditional dealerships – are designed to serve as a retail 'hub', at the centre of a wider network of Renault retail and service centres outside of the city.
Designed primarily to showcase Renault's new line-up of electric cars – including the 5, 4, Mégane and Scenic – the London site is far smaller than a traditional dealership – at around 200sq metres – but the aim is as much about boosting Renault's brand visibility as it is simply selling cars.
Bellouni explained the thinking: "Obviously the aim of this is to sell cars, but in a fancy way – not in a 'fast and furious' way. Many brands do not understand their job properly, because they think that when you show a car, you must sell it. But in fact, it takes time.
"More particularly with electric cars: you don't sell an EV in 10 minutes like when you sell an ICE cars, because people have been used to ICE for 100 years - but people are not used to EVs."
Add your comment