Megane Coupe to lead Renault revival

Renault Australia has confirmed the new Megane Coupe will arrive in Australian showrooms next year. The stylish two-door is part of the French brand's new global product initiative and will be followed by hatchback towards the end of the year.

"It's certainly in our plans and it's certainly coming," Renault Australia managing director, Rudi Koenig says.

First previewed late last year (more here and more here) the new range has recently gone on sale in Europe. Koenig confirmed the Coupe would arrive mid-year and would be part of the brand's renewed sales push.

Although there was no detail on which models Australia will receive expect both petrol and diesel variants and the RenualtSport model. The performance range has proven popular for the brand locally and has put Australia among the top 10 markets for the RenaultSport brand globally.

The new Megane range will become the second product of the Renault's decision to design and engineer globally oriented vehicles instead of its previous European focused range. The first such vehicle was the Koleos SUV which is currently Renault Australia's top performer.

Renault has spent recent years establishing a global product network that includes presence its join venture with Samsung South Korea (where the Koleos is built), Russia, South America, North Africa and the Middle East. Local Renault executives are hopeful that this operational shift can help lift the brand from its current position where it only has a 0.3 per cent marketshare.

Marketing manager Mark Jasper, who has worked with Renault in the UK and France, believes the company's success in Australia is simply about getting "the right product at the right time at the right price."

Jasper admits the time has come for a change in Renault Australia's strategy and that has begun with the Koleos and this week's announcement of a price reduction for the Laguna range.

"If we want to move on from 3000 units per year we've got to change our approach," Jasper says.

He revealed there are already Megane models in the country for testing ahead of next year's launch.

But getting the right products at the right price is proving difficult at present because of the small demand from the Australian market. To combat this Koenig and Jasper both explained that the local operation is working together with their colleagues in New Zealand, Singapore and Japan to try and provide better business cases to Renault HQ in France.

Despite this the prospects of expanding the Clio range beyond the current RenaultSport R27 model is unlikely.

"Clio doesn't exist in the product plan today," Jasper says.

He said it would be impossible to get the broader Clio range into Australia at a competitive price as the situation stands at present. He admitted the same was true of the larger Modus range.

But he didn't rule out a change in the future implying if the global product initiative continued to be successful it could open up the prospect of the full Clio range making it down under to sit underneath the Megane.

"In the short-term the Clio wouldn’t be a proposition but who knows what’s around the corner."

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