Radical new Renault Clio hybrid to keep costs down

But Vanel said keeping the small petrol hatchback – currently priced at just under £18,000 – is important because it provides customers with choice, while ensuring Renault does not abandon a large proportion of its customer base as it introduces a range of more costly EVs. The Mégane E-Tech hatchback, for example, is double that price.

“We are not moving directly towards 100% electric,” said Vanel. “We are doing it step by step, to have this transition with hybrid cars so that we remain an affordable brand.”

Facilitating this push for affordability is the fact that Renault is able to sell combustion cars until 2035 in the European Union and – in accordance with the government’s recently relaxed decarbonisation timeline – the UK. 

As a result, the new Clio is set to be sold with an evolved version of the petrol-electric E-Tech powertrain used in the current car, combining a naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine with an electric motor, a starter-generator and a small-capacity battery for low combined emissions and the ability to drive small distances with the engine off. No doubt the need to reduce emissions across its line-up will mean Renault phases out the cheapest, pure-petrol variant of the Clio for the next generation.

Logically, the fact that Renault’s CMF-BEV platform for small electric cars is so closely related to the Clio’s CMF-B architecture means there is potential for an electric derivative down the line, but Autocar understands it is not yet planned.

The brand will need to carefully consider the Clio’s positioning if it is to become part of its EV range alongside the 4 and 5. Vanel said the firm ultimately wants customers to decide whether to make the switch from the Clio to the 5.

He said: “We want to make it an easy decision, but we want them to make the decision when they are mature for that and when the market is mature – when there are enough charging stations and it’s reasonable to do so.”

Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo is a vocal advocate of small, affordable cars. Speaking recently in his role as chairman of European motor industry body ACEA, he rallied against the increasing difficulty of selling such cars profitably, because safety and emissions regulations have driven up production and development costs to unprecedented levels.

“A- and B-segment cars are not profitable any more because auto makers have to produce cars dressed up like Christmas trees,” he said. “It doesn’t make a difference if it’s a Clio or a big limo.”

The Clio’s cause will have been helped in this regard by two significant regulatory developments: the EU’s and the UK’s decision to allow new combustion car sales for another 11 years and, just as importantly, the slackening of impending Euro 7 emissions rules. It has already been suggested that the fate of two of the Clio’s biggest rivals, the Skoda Fabia and Volkswagen Polo, was contingent on Euro 7 requirements being relaxed. Initial proposals for the rule set would have imposed such heavy production costs on the cars that the margins would have made them unviable.

No doubt Renault bosses also see an opportunity to carve out a bigger share of the supermini market now that the once-dominant Ford Fiesta has been retired.

Crucial to the success of the Clio will be Renault's ability to maintain competitive structures – an endeavour that, said Vanel, will focus less on outright total cost and more on monthly payments.

“We will try to keep the affordability of the monthly rentals,” he said. “If you compare the rentals in 2018/2019 to last year [2022], with the improvement of residual values and even with some price increases, I think we experienced quite a good performance there, which kept the affordability safe.

“This is something which we are looking at a lot, so that for the customers, the monthly rentals – leasing, PCP or whatever – remains quite stable, or in the same region.”