04 Jun 07
Renault has revealed its third-generation Laguna, with a surprising new look and a surprising new take on a neglected technology. And if Renault's plans work out as the company hopes, the Laguna will be in the top three cars in its class for quality, reliability and service.
That's all the more surprising when you consider that Renault is including premium-badged cars such as the Audi A4 and BMW 3-Series in this quality pledge, and that Renault's reputation hasn't been the greatest here.
Using the measure of the number of problems after a year on the road suffered by Lagunas for each month of production, the number has fallen from 100 in February 2001 to 20 in December 2006. So it's heading in the right direction.
Processes brought in from Renault's Nissan partner have helped, and the new car, codenamed X91, takes the use of Nissan expertise a stage further. But the new Laguna - which makes its public debut at September's Frankfurt show, and goes on sale in the UK on 12 October - doesn't use a platform shared with Nissan. Under the skin it's a development of the previous car, but a little longer (by 9cm), wider and taller.
