New Renault Clio and Captur line-ups will be 'simple'

Simplicity will be key when Renault Australia rolls out its new-generation Captur small SUV and Clio light-car next year.

Distinctively different in looks but technically similar under the skin, the second-generation Renault Captur city-SUV and fifth-generation Renault Clio hatch are due here months apart either side of mid-2020.

The Captur will join the freshly launched Renault Kadjar mid-size SUV and larger Koleos, which will soon be updated, in a three-pronged Renault SUV assault in Australia.

To be available here in two or three model variants. The Captur powertrain will be a 1.3-litre turbo-petrol engine powering the front wheels. Manual and auto transmissions are offered by Renault internationally, but it’s unknown if both will come here.

Currently Renault offers two powertrains for the existing Captur in Australia – manual 0.9 and auto 1.3. It comes in two equipment grades, Zen and Intens, with pricing stretching from $21,990 to $30,490 plus on-road costs.

“We are keeping the overall range simple,” said Renault Australia senior manager of product planning Charly Clercin.

“We just want to make sure we have very clear messaging and a very clear line-up that everyone can understand, rather than going and trying to experiment – let’s say – with plenty of different options.

“We want to have a clear focus and be very clear on what we want to do.”

Considering SUVs now account for more than 40 per cent of new vehicle sales in Australia, Renault’s SUV line-up will be critical to the turnaround of the French brand’s local arm.

In a market down eight per cent in 2019, Renault has fallen 21.2 per cent, a dive exacerbated by the withdrawal of the mainstream Megane small car and the run-out of the current Clio and Captur.

“If you take a moment to think about the all-new Captur, Kadjar and Koleos, it’s a stunning SUV line-up and you can almost suit every need, every family size, every budget,” said Renault Australia managing director Anouk Poulman.

The local line-up for the new Renault Clio will be even more straight-forward – just one trim level mated with a 1.0-litre or 1.3-litre engine.

Currently, the mainstream non-RS Clios come with a choice of 0.9- and 1.2-litre engines, manual or auto transmissions and Life, Zen, Intens and GT-Line equipment grades. Pricing stretches from $16,990 to $23,490 plus ORCs.

“We know it’s going to be a simple line-up with just one powertrain to make it easy for the market to understand what we are doing with Clio, but we haven’t exactly decided which powertrain it is,” explained Clercin.

“We know the Clio is a vehicle with a heavy focus on city driving and we are just reviewing whether a 1.0-litre would make more sense than a 1.3-litre for that very urban driving

“They both come in manual and automatic, so it’s just a case of assessing the performance of these, going overseas and actually assessing them. Nothing is decided yet.”

Hybrid powertrains for either model seem unlikely in Australia, although there might be a chance for the Captur E-Tech plug-in down the line.

“This is not available yet even in Europe,” explained Clercin. “But we know how the market is evolving into electrified versions so we will be looking at it.”

Poulman said there had never been any debate about discontinuing Clio in Australia, even though Captur-sized small SUVs significantly outsell traditional minis now.

Some brands have given up the fight; Ford has pulled the mainstream Fiesta from Australia, Holden has canned the Barina and Hyundai’s Accent is on its last legs.

The Clio has been sold in Australia ever since the brand’s most recent reintroduction to Australia in 2001.

“With this beautiful little pearl called Clio I think we can truly have a lot of fun with,” Poulman said. “We can convey the brand message in a different way, we can stand out.”

Both Captur and Clio will pick up the new 5:5:5 Easy Life Ownership program that debuted with Kadjar.

Before they are launched here the Koleos update arrives, followed by a Master van facelift. An automatic version of the Trafic van has just been added, meaning the entire Renault range should be overhauled by the end of next year.