Renault Rafale, the brand's SUV that recalls a racing plane

The names of Renault models have a history behind them. The brand looks to its past to offer names that make a difference and bring part of the company’s history into the present. It should be remembered that Renault not only built combustion-engined cars, but was also responsible for engines for the French aviation industry.

From that past comes this name, Rafale, for its new mid-size SUV. It aims to become the brand’s new flagship. The model, based on the CFM-CD platform that underpins the E-Tech models, is named after one of the planes that were fitted with Renault engines in the 1930s.

A competition aircraft that became a legend

Renault bought an aviation company in the 1930s, Caudron. It became Caudron-Renault, and its aircraft began to be named after various winds. Thus the C500 became the Simoun, the C640 the Typhoon and the C714 the Cyclone. Meanwhile, the C460 was renamed the Rafale.

Only a few examples of this aircraft were built, yet it became a legend within French aviation. Another curiosity linking Renault’s aerospace past with its present is that the Renault Technocentre stands on the same site where Caudron’s facilities and the airfield runways once were, in Guyancourt.

The design of the Caudron Renault Rafale was the work of Marcel Riffart, who also designed several cars. The Viva Grand Sport was one of these cars, fitted with a revolutionary six-cylinder engine. So the link between aviation and the automotive world is a fact, and with the new Rafale coupé SUV, the French brand wants to pay tribute to the company’s past.

We have not yet seen the final image of the Renault Rafale, but the images that preview it suggest that the essence of the aircraft model, which recalls the wind of the same name. We will be watching for the appearance of images of this coupé SUV and will see how they have approached the design and equipment of the vehicle.