The Renault Clio has been one of the more iconic names in French marque’s current line-up, having been with them since 1990. And the fourth-generation version has aged quite well since its launch in 2012. In fact, Renault had revealed a subtle mid-life revision for the car earlier this year.
Apart from the iterative year-on-year updates, it appears that Renault has big plans for the forthcoming 5th-generation Clio, or so a report from AutoExpress claims. But because the current version is still very much in-line with the brand’s latest corporate design philosophy and its underpinned by still relatively modern platform, Renault will be focusing its efforts on an “interior design revolution”.
Earmarked for arrival in 2018 at the Paris Motor Show, the Clio V is reported to follow the introduction of the next Renault Megane RS, with Laurens Van Der Acker confirming a big step forward in interiors - likely to mean a leap in design, build quality, ambience, technology, packaging, and materials that should set a template for other models to follow.
The current Clio’s interior has borne the brunt of criticism for its unambitious design but praised for its higher quality compared to that of its predecessor. Still, it’s quite obvious it was an area that could use an improvement.
Notably, it will incorporate a more sophisticated version of the portrait-oriented central touchscreen found in the Megane and new Koleos, sporting a more responsive higher-resolution panel with haptic response and possibly even gesture control and native support for voice commands.
Van Der Acker told the British publication: “Our customers look at the exterior and go “woah” but then they look at the interior and go “Huh? We need to make sure our next interiors live up to the standards of the exterior. We have more people [at Renault] working on interiors than ever before, and we are pushing a revolution.”
That’s not to say that the next Clio will not have an updated exterior but rather its departure wouldn’t be anything too dramatic, an attribute that they instead want to endow to the car’s cabin. Rather, the all-new Clio should have a strong resemblance to the fourth-generation Megane, only in a smaller form factor.
Another stand-out feature that the next Clio could arrive with is the inclusion of some permutation of hybrid power, a first for the small Renault hatch. The newly revealed Scenic also uses a “Hybrid Assist” system that works in tandem with its BlueHDi diesel engine, but we’re expecting it to augment a smaller petrol motor in the next Clio.
One thing that’s certain, though, is that it won’t be a plug-in hybrid, confirmed by Bruno Ancelin, Renault’s executive vice president of product planning to AutoExpress.
There’s no need for massive deployment of PHEV tech on small cars, as the price will be too high.
Weight reduction is always cheaper compared to a PHEV, as battery price is the biggest barrier. But we’ll probably need that [PHEV] in the upper segments, depending on future diesel regulations.”
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