Caradisiac reports that Renault has stopped taking pre-orders for the Scenic MPV and will be discontinuing its three-row Grand Scenic modification in a few months. Despite this move, the company apparently wants to hold on to the model name for longer.
The first generation of the minivan emerged in 1996 as a cheaper, smaller alternative to the Escape. It proceeded to become a sales hit with 2,800,000 annual produced units. A seven-seater version came out in early 2000s.
The retirement of the model is being explained by the fading demand for vans of all kinds as SUVs and crossovers become more popular. While the company made around 16,000 Scenic units last year, it moved nearly ten times as many units a decade ago.
According to Caradisiac, Renault CEO Luca de Meo promised to keep the model name and reuse it on a new all-electric car that will not be a direct successor of the original. In fact, there will be no direct successor of any kind. The larger Escape and Trafic vans will linger around for now.