Renault has launched its first rnlt concept store in the UK, unveiling a compact retail space at London’s Battersea Power Station.
Notwithstanding the odd name, the 200 sq m outlet on Electric Boulevard aims to immerse visitors in the brand’s electric line-up and lifestyle merchandise.
The store displays Renault’s latest pure-electric models — the Renault 5, Renault 4, Mégane and Scenic — alongside accessories from the Originals Collection, which ranges from clothing and skateboards to table-football sets and scale models.
A Vinyl Bar created with Sony Music lets visitors listen to hit records on headphones, echoing the retro influences behind the new Renault 5 and Renault 4.
Until Sept 21, the Renault 5 Turbo 3E concept, nicknamed “Drifter”, is on show after drawing crowds at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Renault said the rnlt format is deliberately smaller than a conventional showroom, using a compact layout to maximise visibility and walk-in access at a landmark that has attracted more than 30 million visitors since reopening in 2022.
The Battersea site joins or precedes similar rnlt locations in central Paris, Milan, Brussels, Madrid, Rome, Rotterdam and Berlin.
Ahead of launch, Renault commissioned model maker Maxime Pécourt to build a 1:43 replica of the Battersea store.
The miniature, matching the scale of the model cars sold on site, was used during renovation to tease the opening through short social-media clips filmed with mini cameras.
Renault UK marketing director David Isherwood said: “The opening of rnlt London Battersea perfectly illustrates the Renault brand today: French, warm, human and high-tech offering customers something that’s innovative, exciting, relevant and useful. Renault will always have traditional showrooms but rnlt ramps up customer convenience and the visibility of the brand, guaranteeing that urban visitors and passers-by enjoy an immensely easy to access and totally immersive experience of the brand.”
