Clio III arrives in RS trim

Renault Australia will re-enter the light car marketplace next month, but only in the rarefied air at the very top of the segment.

The Clio III RenaultSport 197 goes on sale local in late July and will be priced around $37,000. It will be the first time a Clio III variant has been offered Down Under, and the first since the last remaining version of superseded model (the Clio Campus) exited the marketplace in 2006.

The Campus was very much a price-focussed model -- one that stuck well after the rest of the Clio II range. The Clio RS 197 is, however, a very different beast.

Targeted at hot hatch purists, the three-door-only model is powered by a high-revving naturally-aspirated 16-valve 2.0-litre four that pumps out 145kW (197hp) at 7250rpm. And befitting its performance credentials and pricetag, the new Clio RS will arrive loaded with kit and wearing an aggressive body kit and performance-focussed brake, tyre and wheel package.

The RS197's bodykit is almost unique in this segment, in that it is aerodynamically optimised. It incorporates a rear underbody diffuser which RenaultSport claims at high speed reduces lift and produces "the equivalent of 40kg of rear downforce".

Renault claims a 0-100km/h time of 6.9sec for the three-door, which has won the hearts of performance car fans across Europe. It serves as a halo car for one of Renault's most successful car ranges.

Released in European markets mid 2006, the Clio III range is built in Renault's domestic plants. To date, however, it has been a range too far for Renault Australia. Indeed, the local arm has struggled to secure the right mix of model and pricing for a full launch of the Clio III range Down Under.

"The issue is not so much the [Clio III] range, but where we would have to start it [pricewise]," Renault Australia's Craig Smith told the Carsales Network.

According to Smith, a sub-$20K priceleader is critical to attract buyers in the Light car marketplace. While other marques offer smaller (older) 1400cc engine variants in their latest models, the base spec engine available to Renault Australia in the Clio III is a current generation 1.6-litre. The availability of auto transmission variants also limits Renault Australia's options, he said.

"Overall the Light car segment is ultra competitive. Our dealers tell us we need to kick off the range under $20,000 to get traffic. To start at a $500 disadvantage would be hard enough," Smith said.

"This [current spec] would place the entry-level car at a $2000-3000 disadvantage," Smith claims. "That's unacceptable from our point of view."

Thus with the non-RS Clio III heading towards its mid-life 'freshen', any changes to local plans for the Regie's light car strategy are still some time away. The new RenaultSport 197 will therefore remain the sole Clio III offered in Australia, at least until something moves: pricing and model mix (Renault and/or the competition's) or production sourcing.

With Renault Australia sourcing models from lower cost production centres such as Turkey (Megane sedan) and the upcoming Koleos softroader (Korea), our money's on the latter...