Credited on the other side of the Atlantic with the introduction of the “minivan” – to Europe the MPV – Renault appears to have decided that the fad’s forerunner will not be replaced at the end of its current life cycle.
The Espace and Grand Espace are rather luxurious family vehicles now but still completely capable of transporting you and all that comes with you across continents. Renault has long since developed smaller, cheaper alternatives to the Espace – the Scenic and Grand Scenic; Modus and Grand Modus.
The irony of it is almost sad. In an era where Chrysler, the North American originator of the minivan, is struggling mightily to survive as truck sales fall of a cliff and minivan sales continue to stagnate (if continuing to stagnate is possible), their European equivalent’s underling (Nissan), is rumoured to be interested in purchasing a chunk of the world’s biggest minivan-maker, Chrysler LLC ,even as Nissan’s parent (Renault) is cancelling further production of the Espace, a vehicle the rest of the world sees as famous. Irony, see?
