In 1981 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Renault was presenting the Renault 9, a 4-door saloon designed for customers looking for a family car with low running costs.
The Renault 9 was a four-meter sedan with a front-wheel drive engine configuration that immediately won the European Car of the Year title in 1982.

A number of high-strength steel parts were used in the car’s structure, including the center cab pillars, the front cowl sections and the floor. The body was treated with anti-corrosion protection, while the floor and other parts were treated with protective sprays. Renault aimed to offer safety and the highest possible durability for the model.

The production of the Renault 9 required a modernised plant, able to produce more cars in a shorter period of time, thus, 125 robots were installed and the capacity grown to over a thousand cars a day.

The car came on the market with 2 4-cylinder petrol engines, 1108cm3 and 1397 cm3, the first developing 47.5 hp and the other one 72hp. Most of them were equipped with a 4-speed manual transmission, while the more powerful version of the 1.4-liter engine had a 5-speed manual transmission - and came with an additional charge.

With a wheelbase of 2477mm, the car was 4062mm long, 1650mm wide and 1405mm high. The rear compartment had a volume of 402 L.

The spare wheel under the luggage compartment floor was accessible from the outside and the thank could hold 47 liters of petrol. The vehicle’s weight ranged from 805 to 840 kg.