2019 Renault Cio: all‑new, but a familiar recipe

Few cars have woven their way into popular culture as successfully as the Clio. Surely everyone has a Clio memory, from cheap and cheerful L-plate specials to fast fun with a Clio Williams or a Clio RS – and not forgetting those enduring memories of Nicole and Papa in the ads for the Clio on the telly in the 1990s. (If you haven't seen the ad, you really should give it a watch...) 

Since the Clio was launched in 1990 Renault has made 15 million of them, and the new version, the fifth-generation, builds on the strengths of its predecessors in what is a 100 per cent new car, despite the similarities in exterior design. That’s evolutionary, says Renault; for revolution you have to look inside.

New, more premium materials and soft finishes, revamped design and a digital upgrade are the cabin headlines. This is the first Clio with a fully digital dashboard, with a customisable TFT instrument binnacle and a tablet-like multimedia screen in the centre, the largest Renault has put in any car. In its best, 10-inch form the instrument binnacle can display maps just like the best premium cars today.

Some versions get a wireless smartphone charging pad in the centre console, too, and diffuse ambient lighting (in eight different colours) in the door trims, reinforcing the car’s more premium aspirations.

Unusually for a new model, Clio V is shorter than its predecessor, if only by 14mm. It is also lower (by up to 30mm) which helps explain its strong new stance, especially on 17-inch wheels as shown in the pictures. Underpinning the lot is a new B-segment platform, as used by others in the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

Despite the half-inch lopped off length, Renault claims a new more compact interior design, a switch to an electric parking brake and new seats that free up room for rear seat passengers, all adding up to give more space inside than the old model. There are practicality benefits, too, the boot now a better shape and offering 391 litres of luggage space, along with 26 litres of cubbyholes in the cabin, which Renault says makes it the class champion.

On the outside, the familiar Clio look gets a more assertive front end and posher demeanour. The rear door handles are concealed and there’s more chrome on the body, including the window surrounds. In new RS Line form, a sporty appeal is down to its aero blades and honeycomb grille among other features. LED headlights are standard from the base car up in what will inevitably be a huge range in due course.

There’s no confirmation yet of that range or of engine options, but central to the new Clio are likely to be the familiar small-capacity petrol and diesel units with a manual gearbox from the outgoing models. Later, though, the Clio will be available in petrol-electric E-Tech form, the first of Renault’s new generation of hybrids (it already has the fully electric Zoe, Europe’s biggest selling electric car), and, of course, as a b-road beating RS model.

Clever, smart and expensive looking with the promise of masses of showroom appeal for a small hatchback, the Clio is going to be one of the big stars at this year’s Geneva Motor Show in early March.