Renault Vel Satis

The Renault Vel Satis is a five-passenger, five-door executive hatchback, manufactured and marketed by Renault from 2001 to 2009 over a single generation, sharing its platform with the Laguna II and Espace IV and manufactured on the same assembly line in Sandouville, France and noted for its unorthodox styling approach to the luxury segment. The Vel Satis, alongside the Opel Signum, aimed to capture a new market segment. Launched at the 2001 Geneva Motor Show to replace the already discontinued Safrane, the Vel Satis followed a 1998 Paris Motor Show concept. As Renault's flagship model, it was the company's first car offered with adaptive cruise control, Renault reportedly spent €550 million developing the Vel Satis, predicting 50,000 sales across Europe in its first year. In total, over an eight year production, approximately 62,000 were manufactured. The name Vel Satis is a portmanteau of Velocity and Satisfaction.