Renault renews the Clio

ZMore than 80 percent of all new cars sold in the EU still have a combustion engine on board, but this technology is apparently dying out. Also at Renault. But before that happens, the extremely successful Clio, which has sold more than 16 million units since 1990 and has been Car of the Year twice, will be given a major makeover.

The premiere was celebrated simultaneously in Cologne, Madrid, Paris, Milan and London last week. You don’t treat yourself to anything else. However, the four-meter car will not be on the market until September. Renault has not yet named prices, they should start at 20,000 euros.

There are changes mainly at the front and rear, the Renault rhombus is now much more present, the daytime running lights show the shape of half a logo. The taillights are under clear glass. In the future, customers will only have to choose from three equipment lines, the best is called Esprit Alpine, and 17-inch rims will then be included. The interior comes without leather. This waiver is now common among many manufacturers, as is the effort to be as sustainable as possible, which also applies to the Clio.

Four engine variants are available for the newcomer, a rather modest 1.0-litre three-cylinder with 65 hp, of which a turbo variant with 91 hp, and a 100 hp engine which runs on LPG. The top engine is the E-Tech, here a 1.6-liter petrol engine is combined with an electric motor, resulting in a system output of 145 hp for the full hybrid. Renault promises a consumption according to the WLTP standard of only 4.1 liters, the range is around 900 kilometers.

The system is designed in such a way that 80 percent of city trips can be purely electric. In Germany and Holland there is no longer a diesel version of the Clio and in general there is no purely electric version. This is reserved for the upcoming R5 and R4 models. The Clio will be available until 2030.