Because every Frenchman who likes a luxury car these days is less nationalist than decades ago and buys German? Porsche sells a lot of SUVs in France...
more then a couple (from new) including a french sports car - answers on a postcode
And while they where all fun I was under no illusion they where quality products that had been built to last, and that includes a flag ship version.
french car re-sale values kinda re-enforce my view.
Yes they all went wrong, quite a bit, yes they where very very expensive to fix, yes it was some years ago, but that was enough!! when issues are dealt with quickly and professionally I can deal with it, unfortunately that wasn't the case with these dealers, which is also why I would never buy another BMW etc etc
And it's not just about 'luxury' cars either. It's been noticeable in recent decades that even when the French make a 'sporty' model they've very rarely been made with decently powerful engines. Haven't checked recently, but last time I looked they didn't seem to make any engines over about 180ps, or bigger than 2 litres. Have they just accepted that their own market doesn't want it, or that they won't be able to compete with the Germans so they don't bother trying?
With regards to your choice, if you're worried about resale value then get a BMW. If you are worried about servicing costs or any other big costs but still want to carry a lot then get a panel van.
Otherwise, drive them both and choose the one you like best.
Or one of each. Our recent choice had some quite different criteria, but we decided to keep the big fast sporty estate car and the two-seater sports convertible, both of which at ~10 years old are still really good and modern but have done most of their price depreciation, and supplememt them with a proper load-carrying, people-carrying (9-seater) 4X4 in the shape of a 16-y-o LR defender. Uncompromising it is, but that's fine if you have the choice of other tools for other jobs.
- The Peugeot 308 GTI has an engine (1.6 liter) that produces 272 bhp
- Renault Mégane RS has an engine 1.8 liter) that produces 279 bhp
I'm not sure what one would do with much more power than the options listed above. Maybe the french are just being reasonable - I do not know many people that would actually need more than ~280 bhp in a daily driver.
I can find plenty to do with a lot more horses than that. Trust me, it isn't difficult to start making a list of Fun Stuff to Do with Oodles of Horsepower.
A Megane RS is - besides being quite cool - hardly a normal daily driver. Its a hot hatch.
The Renaults used to be some of the finest of the bunch (as long as you did not care about reliability, parts prices, resell value or anything that's not emotional) ... but a Focus RS makes 350 hp these days, an Audi RS3 has 400, a Golf R 310... so yes, 279 is in direct comparison with the typical competition not that much. Renault lost its edge in an area they were once really really good at.
As a connoisseur of econo class rental cars (I probably rent 15 - 20 a year) I would say they are all crap euro shitboxes, but the C3/C4 manages to put a smile on my face and I'd take it over a Kia, Ford or Vauxhall.
My local gas station has also a Citroen dealership... every time I go there I see the advertisement to win one of those for a few months in some competition and think "I'd really rather not"...
Unless you have infinite money - which i guess you dont, since you are looking for the cheapest models of jaguar - I would stay away from them... look at the history of how reliable they are at the beginning wont cause problems, but in the long run they will...
but more hp doesn't mean that a car is better. i wonder if there are roads in Switzerland where 400 hp instead of 280 in a hot hatch makes a difference.