Before the original Renault Kangoo hopped onto the LCV (light commercial vehicle) scene 18 years ago in 1997, all light vans were as fashionable as carton boxes and as style-conscious as cardboard. After all, it was more important for light vans to be as functional as carton boxes and as cost-conscious as cardboard.
Then the revolutionary Renault van came along and changed the world – well, at least the world of compact commercial vehicles. The Kangoo struck a snazzy balance between work and play, weekday labour and weekend leisure. The French machine popularised industrial chic as a transport tool among small businesses and sole proprietorships.
In the Singapore context, the Kangoo and its equally hip rivals that arrived later, such as the Fiat Fiorino and Ford Transit Connect, were funky yet functional “general workers” that worked hand in hand and fender to shoulder with honest-to-goodness contractors such as Phua Chu Kang and his yellow-booted friends to support all the commerce they were engaged in.
The Kangoo was so cool that its known (advertising) associates included Wallace and Gromit.
