The one millionth Scénic II has rolled off of the production line in Douai, France – less than three years since its launch. Its timing also offers cause for a double celebration, as 2006 represents the tenth anniversary of the launch of the original Mégane Scénic - the car which trailblazed the compact-MPV sector in 1996 and has topped the European MPV sales charts every year for the last 10 years.

Hitting the one million mark is quite a feat for any modern car. Scénic I achieved it after four years, with virtually no competition for the first two years, which makes its successor’s achievement even more remarkable.

Originally launched as the third in a line of successful Renault monospace vehicles, Scénic was conceived to slot between Twingo and Espace, offering a previously unseen combination of a light and airy cabin combined with a high level of interior practicality and sizeable boot. Instantly hailed as an illustration of visionary design, the car took the market by storm as well as driving off with the European Car of the Year 1997 award.

The production level for Scénic I was originally forecast at 120,000 per year, however, entering a market sector that didn’t exist in any quantifiable size meant that forecasting sales levels was difficult. Such was the positive media and public reaction to a car that had all of the MPV benefits of an Espace, but in a smaller, five-seater size, that the orders started flooding in.

Within six months, the production capacity had been doubled to 240,000 with an extra shift. Twelve months after launch, the clamour for this revolutionary car was increasing, not decreasing, so the decision was taken to run the factory 23 hours per day with three shifts enabling production to reach 360,000 – triple the initial target.

Its success continues today. In total, three million Scénic I and IIs have been produced at the Douai plant in France since 1996. In spite of the ever-increasing competition and with the European launch of the seven-seater Grand Scénic in 2004, Scénic continues to dominate the highly competitive compact MPV sector in Europe. Last year, Scenic II represented 20.8% of all sales in its sector across Europe, with the next nearest rival taking only 12%.

Jan 1997 - Mégane Scénic I named European Car of the Year

June 2003 - Launch of Scénic II

Sept 2003 - Scénic II achieves five-star Euro NCAP crash test result (safest car in its category)

March 2004 - Launch of seven-seater Grand Scénic

With Scénic II due for a facelift in the (northern) autumn, the future for the current European compact MPV market leader looks just as Scénic as the previous ten…