The time has come for a change in the Elysée's fleet of cars. Reserved for the DS brand (Stellantis Group) since 2012, the president's official car is now a Renault. For the Bastille Day celebrations on July 14, Emmanuel Macron drove from the Elysée Palace to the Avenue de Friedland on Sunday in the Renault Rafale, described by the brand as its "new flagship."
During his first election, in 2017, Macron used a DS7, an SUV that he renewed in 2021 by adopting a plug-in hybrid version. Five years earlier, François Hollande had driven down the Champs-Elysées in a DS5, in the pouring rain.
Renault's presence in the president's garage is a major coup, highlighting a vehicle that is intended to embody the company's new top-of-the-range ambitions. The Rafale – the automaker owns this name, which it authorized Dassault Aviation to use for its fighter jet – is also a large SUV (4.70 meters long), reflecting the success of this type of vehicle on the automotive market.
The new car, manufactured in Spain, is presented with a "night-blue" body paint finish, is specially armored, and is "in keeping with the requirements of the presidential function," according to the manufacturer. It features a grille with a gradient representation of the tricolor flag, as well as removable banner holders and special 20-inch wheels.
After intense but discreet lobbying, Renault managed to win the contract before DS – which is unable to offer its DS9 sedan, produced in China – could renew its DS7. Since the 2010s, official "carriage" cars have been loaned by manufacturers rather than purchased.
The Rafale is part of a long tradition of presidential Renaults, inaugurated in 1920 by the 40 CV that carried former presidents Paul Deschanel, Alexandre Millerand and Gaston Doumergue. Since the early days of the Fifth Republic, however, it has been Citroën that has most often been chosen by the tenants of the Elysée, following in the footsteps of General De Gaulle and Georges Pompidou, who placed an order for the famous 1972 SM découvrable, which he used until 1995.