Cars for everyone

Specialising in cars for the working classes, Renault continued its success during the glory years. The R4 marked a change in technology as well as a cultural change with the emergence of cars for everyday living which were to be gradually rolled out across all market niches. Renault became a volume manufacturer offering the most extensive range, achieving the number one brand position in Europe in 1980. A mass-producer, selling and manufacturing cars across five continents, Renault had become an international player. This exceptional growth was scarcely slowed down by the first oil shock, the Renault 5 then emerging as the car for the crisis. However, the company began to ask itself questions about its business and its size. Following a successful partnership with Peugeot from 1966 to 1974, in 1978 the state-controlled Renault company embarked on the acquisition of AMC, a small American manufacturer. However, everything suddenly changed with the second oil shock in 1979 which concealed the world car crisis.