Renault Clio ready to return

After being withdrawn from local showrooms in the late naughties when it got too costly against its competition, the French baby is set for a significant slot in the growing Renault range.

The fourth-generation Clio is going public next month at the Paris motor show and is set for showrooms down under by the middle of next year, priced from the $16,000 range. It's role is to bring more people to Renault and build on recent sales successes that have produced a 30 per cent jump this year, including an all-time record in June.

"We have an appetite for growth," the head of Renault Australia, Justin Hocevar, tells Carsguide. "What's missing is what Renault has always done very well, and that's the smallest hatch." The company's sales reached 2350 cars by the end of July, up from 1808 at the same time a year earlier, and he believes everything from a better warranty coverage to low-cost finance - and even a television commercial shot in Sydney - has helped.

"Every stone is being turned. We're improving the relevance to the local market," Hocevar says. "We're about 30 per cent up on last year. And last year was a good year for us, as we were up just shy of 90 per cent.

"What are we doing to try and break through to be mainstream? Everything. At almost every level of the business there has been substantive change." The Renault Sport version of the Clio has maintained a skeleton presence in Australia over the past two years, although even it is now struggling as it enters its twilight.

So the revival plan for 2013 is built around the mainstream five-door hatchback and a choice of petrol and diesel engines, a move intended to position the Clio against the better of the small-car babies, including the Polo and 2. "It's about trying to break through and become mainstream. We're improving the relevance to the local market," Hocevar says.

Renault has already revealed the new look for Clio 4, which includes a hatchback shape that's more like a coupe. Full specifications and the model lineup will come at the Paris show, including a Carsguide preview drive, but Hocevar is not intending to go early on the details. "What's the price point? It's too early to announce, but it's fair to say we're akin a more aggressive approach to position it in the marketplace.

"Natural competitors are the Mazda2 through to Polo. Price? Let's say high teens. "We'll tend to favour a relatively high level of specification. We've got a five-year warranty which some of the others don't, and our servicing is once a year."

Hocevar knows the Clio has failed before but believes he knows the reason for a campaign that fizzled out with heavily-discounted sales to rental companies. "It took off reasonably well, and they did 1700 cars in the first full year. What didn't work in that vehicle's favour was currency. By about 2006 the dollar-to-Euro rate was completely different to what it is today."

Hocevar confirms Clio 4 will hit around the middle of new year, with the Renault Sport model about six months later. And he says the born-again Clio 4 just the start of a longer-term product offensive.

"Have we reached the point of crossing over into mainstream? No we haven't. That's a longer burn for us, and a case of careful management to achieve that goal," he says.