It had a simple body with minimal equipment, a large space for cargo or luggage, and 'deckchair' seats which could be easily removed. It had front-wheel drive, long-travel fully independent suspension, and Rack and pinion steering. It had a large structural platform with a separate body. The Renault 4 shared many design traits with the older Citroën 2CV to allow it to fulfill the same role as a versatile utility car, especially for people in rural France and other parts of the world with poor roads. It would be a family car, a woman's car, a farmer's car, or a city car. In early 1956, Renault Chairman Pierre Dreyfus launched this new project: designing a new model to replace the rear engined 4CV and compete against the Citroën 2CV that would become an everyman's car, capable of satisfying the needs of most consumers. While the Citroën had been designed during the Great Depression when money was tight and living standards were relatively low, by the 1960s the French economy was growing and people would be able to afford a more modern, refined, and less utilitarian small car. With its roots in the 1930s, the 2CV's styling was also outdated and, with its separate wing/fenders, had a relatively narrow and cramped body for its overall footprint. The 2CV's suspension gave it an excellent ride and good grip and handling but was mechanically complex with many moving parts that required regular maintenance and lubrication at intervals as low as every 1000 miles (1600km). Its air-cooled two-cylinder engine was reliable and economical but noisy and offered poor performance. The Citroën had also proved popular with people living in towns and cities as affordable, economical transport but the 2CV's rural design brief made it less than ideal as a city car and, despite improvements, the late-1950s 2CV had a top speed of just 70 km/h (43 mph). Agriculture was becoming more mechanized with fewer smallholdings and family farms for which the 2CV was designed. Rural roads in France were improved and the national system of autoroutes was being developed. However, by the late 1950s, the 2CV was becoming outdated. The 2CV had been designed in the 1930s for use in the French countryside where the road network was poor - speed was not a requirement but a good ride, useful rough-terrain ability, a versatile body for load carrying, and economy and simplicity of operation were its key considerations. The Citroën had made motoring available to low-income people in France, and especially to farmers and other people in rural areas, for whom the car was as much a working tool as personal transport. Renault was able to review the advantages and disadvantages of the 2CV design. The Renault 4 was Renault's response to the 1948 Citroën 2CV. In early 2020, the 33-year production run of the Renault 4 was counted as the seventeenth most long-lived single generation car in history. 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. 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. Although the Renault 4 was marketed as a short station wagon, its minimal rear overhang, and single top-hinged rear opening made it the world's first mass-produced hatchback car, as well as the first front-wheel drive family car produced by Renault. The Renault 4, also known as the 4L (pronounced "Quatrelle" in French), is a small economy car produced by the French automaker Renault between 19.
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