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In selected international markets, such as Austria, the line is also being used in its original - English - form. In Germany, however, Renault is running advertising that translates the claim into the local language. Why, the Austrian newspaper Der Standard asks, should potential buyers in its home country be treated differently to their neighbours?

Renault Modus: compact and spacious

  
The Renault claim used in Austria is "Tu nicht so erwachsen" (which, roughly translates back into English as: "You so grown up?). It's as if, Der Standard says, the global McDonald's slogan. "I'm lovin' it", had been translated in advertising as "Ich liebe es" (which, of course, is not the case).

To resolve its doubts, Der Standard asked Barbara Benesch, managing partner of Publicis in Vienna, to answer a few questions.

"Here in Austria", Benesch tells the paper, "but also in Germany, we are working for an international company. Nevertheless, it's important to address the needs of the local market. The decision as to whether an English- or a German-language endline is used is left to the country in question. Our pre-tests showed that customers in Austria understood the English slogan very well and also the meaning behind it - staying young at heart, not taking life too seriously".

"Our colleagues in Germany", she continues, "almost always use German-language slogans. We feel that the core idea behind the campaign comes across better in its original version, so that's why we're using the original claim".

One could ask, however - and a number of correspondents in the forum run by Der Standard do exactly this - why Renault did not have the courage to use the phrase: 'Grandir? Pour quoi faire?'. Isn't the company, after all, French?

A quick tour of Europe, conducted by From Europe With Love,  finds that Renault uses the line 'Grow up? What for?' in its English- language form in Flemish-speaking Belgium, reverting to the French version in the other half of the country. In its home market of France, however, the line 'Compact et spacieux is deemed sufficient, as is also the case in Switzerland (where, in German, the line is translated as 'Kompakt und geräumig'.

Similarly, in the Netherlands, the line that runs is 'Compact en ruim'. The Modus hasn't yet launched in Spain or Portugal, but it seems likely that a similar line will be used there to that employed in Italy, where the slogan reads 'compatta e spaziosa'.

Click on the link below (left) to read a fuller version of this story for yourself, in German, on the website of Der Standard. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to be taken to Renault's Austrian website. Oh.. and what's the slogan on the home page? 'Renault. Créateurs d'Automobiles'. Enough said.