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NEWS
New Clio to drive record Renault sales
Renault targets another Australian sales record this year as new Clio shapes as French brand's best-sellerRenault Australia expects to set another sales record this year, thanks in part to the fourth-generation Clio, which is expected to becoming its best-selling model following its launch in September.
The first ground-up vehicle designed by Renault’s Senior Vice-President of Design, Laurens van den Acker, Clio4 will also be the first complete light-hatch model range to be offered here by the French brand.
However, there will be no wagon and no diesel versions, with Renault failing to establish a business case for the latter and the latter unavailable in right-hand drive.
Renault Australia said it expressed interest in the new Clio wagon, but it remains a left-hand drive-only vehicle, while a diesel Clio was ruled out due to lack of demand.
“We did look at the diesel and it was still on our radar in October (when Australian journalists drove it and other Clio variants in Europe), but it didn’t stack up because of the very low uptake of diesel in the light-car segment,” said corporate communications manager Emily Ambrosy.
“The new Clio’s petrol engines are so efficient that there’s very little advantage in the diesel, but we’ll continue to look at it.”
That means Renault won’t have an answer for pint-sized diesels like the Volkswagen Polo or Ford Fiesta for the foreseeable future, and Australians will be denied the 66kW/220Nm 1.5-litre turbo-diesel Clio, which would have set a new fuel-efficiency yardstick here at just 3.4L/100km and all but matches the Toyota Prius hybrid’s CO2 emissions at 90g/km. Europe’s most efficient version is even more frugal at 3.2L/100km and 83g/km.
Instead, from launch Clio4 will be offered as a single five-door hatch model with two turbocharged petrol engines, matched with unique transmissions.
Opening the line-up will be Renault’s compact and efficient new turbocharged 0.9-litre (898cc) three-cylinder, which outputs 66kW/135Nm and is fitted with an idle-stop system to help cut fuel consumption to 4.3L/100km and CO2 emissions to 99g/km.
It will be available only with a five-speed manual transmission, while Renault’s new EDC dual-clutch automatic transmission will be the only gearbox available with the more advanced direct-injection tCe 120 1.2-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine, which delivers 88kW/190Nm.
The same engine line-up (sans diesel) will power Renault’s all-new Clio-based Captur small SUV when it arrives here later than expected in the first half of next year, although the Clio range will be topped in early 2014 by the new RS 200 EDC hot hatch, which packs a 147kW/240Nm 1.6 turbo-petrol four and six-speed EDC auto, before a new mid-range GT (1.2T) variant arrives later next year.
Expect pricing of Australia’s Turkish-built Clio to start lower than ever before at about $16,000 – between its most direct rivals in the Mazda2 (from $15,790) and VW Polo (from $16,990), while the new Clio RS could match the equivalent Polo GTI five-door at under $30,000.
“We’ll launch Clio with a surprising price point in the market, compared to our traditional competitor set,” said Renault Australia Managing Director Justin Hocevar.
“I think it will be closer to Mazda2 than Polo, but we’ll also offer customisation like MINI and it will still come with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.”
Hocevar said sharp pricing and a much wider range of models could attract annual Clio sales of up to 2000, easily making it Renault’s top-selling model in Australia, where just 73 examples of the sole Clio III available -- the $36,490 RS 200 -- have been sold this year.
Renault sold 1125 Meganes in Australia last year (narrowly outselling the Koleos with 1116), when total sales reached a record 5011 units -- up 38 per cent on 2011 and just 60 sales behind fellow French brand Peugeot.
However, while sales are up 44 per cent in the first half of this year, Renault is targeting a 20 per cent lift in volume for 2013, equating to at least 6000 sales -- and potentially more than 8000 with the full Clio4 range and Captur in 2014.
“Clio will need a year to get some decent volume and establish itself as our volume-seller but, although RS supplies will be limited, it will be a core model in the line-up – I’m confident it will shake up the light segment.”
The Megane hatch and related Fluence sedan are the only models to suffer sales slumps this year, but Hocevar said at this week’s delayed launch of the revitalised Megane range that the MY13 small-car line up would “bounce back quickly with this broader offer”.
“We’ve achieved sustainable growth in a flat market and models like the new Megane and Clio will keep us on target to set another record this year.”
Also helping keep Renault on a roll this year will be a similarly upgraded Fluence line-up to be announced later this week, an upgraded Koleos later this year, 120 examples of the Megane RS Red Bull Racing RB8 limited-edition and further variants of the large Master commercial, sales of which are up a massive 127 per cent this year.
Renault Australia is also considering next year’s new Espace people-mover, which will be the first Renault to be based on the Renault-Nissan Alliance’s new Common Module Family component set. Designed to eventually form the basis of 1.6 million new vehicles annually, CMF will underpin 11 future Renault models – including the next-generation Megane, Koleos and the Laguna/Latitude replacement – and 14 Nissans.
It is also waiting with interest to see the rear-drive replacement for the Twingo city-car, which is being co-developed with Daimler’s next-generation smart and has been previewed in both three-door Twin’Run and five-door Twin’Z guises, but may struggle to position it below the new Clio.
To support its sales growth, Renault Australia’s dealer network will have expanded by 60 per cent since the new Hocevar-led management team assumed control three years ago.
Hocevar will travel to Singapore next week to present his Asia-Pacific office with Renault Australia’s latest five-year business plan, which includes more aggressive sales, model introduction and dealer network targets.
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Written byMarton Pettendy
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