The company was started by a man named Louis Renault in 1899. When
France was occupied by Germany from 1940, he claimed he put the plant
under the control of the Vichy government so that it would not be moved
to Germany instead. For this he was viewed as a Nazi collaborator and
the company was seized by the French government in 1944. He died at that
time while under arrest.
As a nationalised company, it started producing cars quite quickly. They will be explained as we go. First the production numbers, then a brief summary of the models.
Data source: Freyssenet.com
Juvaquatre: A compact car inspired by the Opel Kadet was started in 1937, and resumed after the war. It soon became just a wagon model, with the saloon car dropped. It was also sold as a commercial van, sales of which may be included here.
As a nationalised company, it started producing cars quite quickly. They will be explained as we go. First the production numbers, then a brief summary of the models.
| Juvaquatre | 4cv | Colorale | Frégate | Dauphine | ||
| 45 | 5 | - | - | - | - | |
| 46 | 8,536 | - | - | - | - | |
| 47 | 17,671 | 1,300 | - | - | - | |
| 48 | 2,663 | 29,917 | - | - | - | |
| 49 | 6,688 | 63,920 | - | - | - | |
| 50 | 17,800 | 86,077 | - | - | - | |
| 51 | 19,651 | 99,886 | 11,504 | 579 | - | |
| 52 | 16,756 | 103,308 | 10,307 | 18,153 | - | |
| 53 | 10,893 | 95,268 | 6,371 | 25,192 | - | |
| 54 | 11,954 | 123,593 | 5,628 | 34,258 | - | |
| 55 | 14,349 | 138,632 | 4,970 | 37,631 | - | |
| 56 | 13,897 | 112,050 | 1,871 | 28,943 | 78,007 | |
| 57 | 16,749 | 71,068 | 2,620 | 10,546 | 187,926 | |
| 58 | 13,262 | 73,951 | 1,406 | 13,649 | 280,604 | |
| 59 | 10,226 | 44,710 | - | 7,461 | 395,827 |
Data source: Freyssenet.com
Juvaquatre: A compact car inspired by the Opel Kadet was started in 1937, and resumed after the war. It soon became just a wagon model, with the saloon car dropped. It was also sold as a commercial van, sales of which may be included here.
4cv: This compact car replaced the Juvaquatre saloon model. It
was secretly designed during WWII, and was soon introduced after the
war.
 |
| The 4cv. Quite streamline for it's time |
Colorale: It was a large car for it's day, with a wagon look to it in profile but it wasn't overly popular.
Frégate: The need for an upmarket car led to this model being released. It was later joined by a wagon.
Dauphine: While it replaced the 4cv, it was larger and both
models continued for a time in typical French fashion. Other variants
were introduced in time, including a sport and luxury versions.
 |
| The Dauphine. I remember seeing these as a child in NZ |
Summary: The post war years were a time of rebuilding a shattered
Europe. The car industry was to become an important part of that, but
in this period it was still early days.
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