Renault 12

Renault 12
Overview
Manufacturer	Renault
Also called	Renault 1.4 Litre (Australia)[1] Renault Virage (Australia)[2] Renault Toros (Turkey) Dacia 1300 (Romania)
Production	1969–1980 (France) 1969–2006 (Romania) 1971–1994 (Argentina) 1971–2000 (Turkey)
Model years	1971–1995 (Argentina)
Assembly	Boulogne-Billancourt, France Guarda, Portugal Santa Isabel, Argentina (IKA) Heidelberg, Australia Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec, Canada (SoMA) Novo Mesto, Yugoslavia (IMV) Los Andes, Chile[3] Duitama and Envigado, Colombia Ciudad Sahagún, Mexico Mioveni, Romania Valladolid, Spain (FASA-Renault) Bursa, Turkey (Oyak-Renault) (Toros) Mariara, Venezuela Haren-Vilvoorde, Belgium (RIB) Thames, New Zealand Aïn Sebaâ, Morocco (Somaca)
Body and chassis
Class	Large family car (D-segment) Small van
Body style	4-door saloon 5-door estate 3-door car derived van
Layout	FF layout
Related	Dacia 1310/1410 Ford Corcel Ford Del Rey
Powertrain
Engine	1289 cc 810 I4 1397 cc 847/C1J I4 1565 cc C2L I4 (RA/TR) 1565 cc A2L/807-20 I4 (US/Gordini) 1596 cc 807-G I4 (Gordini) 1647 cc A2M I4 (USA)
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,440 mm (96.1 in)
Length	4,345 mm (171.1 in) (saloon) 4,410 mm (173.6 in) (estate)
Width	1,616 mm (63.6 in){
Height	1,435 mm (56.5 in) (empty)
Chronology
Predecessor	Renault 8 and 10
Successor	Renault 18

The Renault 12 is a mid-size family car introduced by French automaker Renault at the Paris Motor Show in October 1969^[4] and produced in France until 1980. Available as a saloon (Berline) and estate (Break), it was also produced under licence in many countries around the globe into the early 21st century.

In its first few years the 12 received praise from the European press for its spacious, comfortable interior, its styling, its performance and its low fuel consumption. However it fared worse in the North American press: in a test of the 1974 model, Road & Track was critical of the engine's "obtrusive" noise, and called the heavy, non-power steering "a serious design flaw". They also gave it "very poor marks" for the ventilation system.

Renault 12 production and sales ended in western Europe in 1980, but the model continued to be produced and sold by Renault affiliates elsewhere. The last R12 was produced in 2000 in Turkey, while Romanian automaker Dacia continued producing the R12-based 1310 saloon and estate until 2004 and the R12-based Dacia Pick-Up until December 2006.

Commercially the Renault 12 was a successful car, selling 2.5 million units.^[5]