Renault

Louis Renault built a “quadricycle” at his family home in 1898 and a year later created Societé Renault Fréres to meet demand for replicas. The firm was nationalised after Louis’ death in 1944. Notable models of the next few decades included the elegant yet compact Dauphine (1956), the R4 (1961) that signalled a new front-wheel-drive era for the brand, and the R16 (1964) and R5 (1972) that would be templates for popular five-door hatches in their respective eras. Renault endured huge financial losses in the ’80s, though the 1984 Espace would shake up the people-mover segment with its raked design and innovations such as swiveling front chairs, while models such as the Twingo (1992) would continue the brand’s design renaissance. Renault’s Formula One engines were mighty in the ’90s, taking various Williams drivers to successive driver’s titles from 1992-97, before powering Benetton’s Fernando Alonso to the 1995 and 1996 championships. Renault formed a global alliance with Nissan in 1999, and also took a majority stake in Romanian auto company Dacia.