Renault 4

The Renault 4, also known as the 4L (pronounced "Quatrelle"), is a hatchback economy car produced by the French automaker Renault between 1961 and 1992. It was the first front-wheel drive family car produced by Renault.

The car was launched at a time when several decades of economic stagnation were giving way to growing prosperity and surging car ownership in France. The first million cars were produced by 1 February 1966, less than four and a half years after launch; eventually over eight million were built, making the Renault 4 a commercial success because of the timing of its introduction and the merits of its design. It was exceptionally spacious for its size, and although originally marketed as a small estate car, it is now regarded as the first mass-production hatchback car.

Origins and strategy

The Renault 4 was Renault's response to the 1948 Citroën 2CV. Renault was able to review the advantages and disadvantages of the 2CV design and come up with a larger, more urban vehicle. In early 1956, Renault Chairman Pierre Dreyfus launched this new project: designing a new model to replace the rear engined 4CV that would become an everyman's car, capable of satisfying the needs of most consumers. It would be a family car, a woman's car, a farmer's car, or a city car.