Renault's new SUV-coupé will be called Rafale

Renault has chosen the name Rafale for its new SUV-coupé. It is a fresh badge for a Renault road car, even though it has long existed in the company’s back catalogue.

The Rafale name in Renault history

To understand where the name comes from, you have to go back to the early decades of the last century, when Renault’s activities extended beyond cars into supplying engines for trains and aircraft.

Renault did not stop at engine supply, either. In 1933 it bought the aircraft manufacturer Caudron, creating Caudron Renault. From then on, every aircraft produced under Caudron Renault would be given the name of a wind.

That thread leads directly to Rafale (“gust”), the name assigned to the C460, a single-seat aircraft built with one goal in mind: setting records.

“Few people are aware that the name Rafale belongs to Renault and is part of the brand’s history. Now we are going to use this name for the first time on a car.”

Sylvia dos Santos, Renault’s head of model naming strategy

Rafale, the car

The Rafale name will now appear for the first time on a Renault production model. The French brand is counting on the associations of efficiency and aerodynamics - particularly linked to the shape - to carry across to this SUV-coupé.

Positioning and Renault design language

Within Renault’s line-up, the Renault Rafale will sit among the brand’s higher-end offerings, alongside the Austral and Espace. It will also be the first model to introduce Renault’s new design language, which will include a new lighting signature - effectively a farewell to the “C”-shaped daytime running lights.

It will be the first series-production vehicle developed under Gilles Vidal, who took over as Renault’s design lead in 2020. Since then, several concept cars have hinted at what to expect from Renault styling, from the heritage-inspired Renault 5 and Renault 4 concepts to the more modern Scénic.

Before joining Renault, Vidal held the same role at its long-time rival Peugeot. Under his direction, the 408 arrived with a look that blends several body types - SUV, saloon, coupé… The new Rafale could very well become Renault’s equivalent of the “408”.

For now, Renault has shared almost no technical information about the all-new Renault Rafale. Even so, it is known that it will use the CMF-CD platform, which also underpins the Austral and Espace, and it will be offered with E-Tech hybrid powertrains.

When does it arrive?

In keeping with the name’s aviation roots, the Renault Rafale will be unveiled at the 54th Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, taking place on 18 June.