First impressions: The new Renault Clio has some big shoes to fill, but can it cut the mustard?

This is the new Renault Clio, and it’s a very important car for the French brand. The Clio is currently one of the best-selling cars in Europe, and here at Carwow it’s one of our favourite small hatchbacks. It’s so good in fact that I’ve considered buying one as a daily driver more than once.

It looks great, has a posh-feeling interior, the infotainment system is brilliant and you can have it with a super-efficient hybrid system which is ideal for town driving.

So the new Renault Clio has a lot to live up to, and I went out to Paris to take a closer look during the reveal in September to get a first look at this small hatchback.

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New Renault Clio design

I didn’t quite know what to expect when the sheet was pulled off the new Renault Clio. The current car is such a handsome thing, I thought the new one would just be an evolution.

Well it isn’t – the new Renault Clio is a clean-sheet redesign, but I’m not sure if it’s for the better. Everyone I spoke to in the crowd said they could see elements of a different car.

I thought the headlights looked a bit like the Subaru Crosstrek’s, someone else said they could see some Peugeot-ness in the rear quarter and I even heard a reference to the Ferrari Purosangue with those split rear lights.

It’s quite a lot more fussy than the outgoing Clio, with loads of creases, lines and bulges across the bodywork. That front grille makes it look a bit like a Caterham is trying to escape from a hatchback, and Renault is also trying to copy Mercedes by making the grille mesh out of little diamond logos.

On a positive note, I quite like the side profile. The new sloping roofline makes it look a bit more sporty and muscular than the old car, and that little ducktail spoiler midway down the bootlid is a nice touch as well.

Design is, of course, subjective, and you can make up your own mind on whether you like the way this car looks. I might need a bit more time to warm to the new Clio’s styling – it’s certainly a radical departure from the old car.

New Renault Clio interior and practicality

At least the interior isn’t as polarising as the exterior, because it looks great. This comes as no surprise after I recently spent some time with the electric Renault 4 and 5, both of which have wicked cabins.

Renault has a knack for using funky materials to make affordable cars feel more expensive inside, and the new Clio uses fabric on the dash to lift things nicely. You get a soft, suede-like cloth on range-topping Esprit Alpine models, along with dashboard trim in a burnt titanium effect, a bit like you’d see on the exhaust of a modified Subaru. This split opinions in the room, but I quite like it.

Build quality is also top-notch. There are some hard plastics to be found on the door cards and the dashboard, but this is to be expected on an affordable small hatchback. Everything feels like it’s really well-screwed together and built to last.

You get twin 10.1-inch screens in the Clio, and the software is very similar to the Renault 5’s. This means it’s Google-based software which is really easy to use, and you can get apps like Spotify and Google Maps built in. The screens themselves are also bright and responsive.

And something I’m always grateful for is physical climate control buttons. Renault has so far resisted the urge to bury all of them in the screen, and the new Clio has a row of nice, clear switches to control fan speed, temperature and the direction of the air.

Getting comfortable behind the wheel is easy, because there’s loads of adjustment in the seats and the steering wheel. There are also plenty of storage cubbies around the cabin – including large door bins, some space under the armrests and a couple of cupholders which are covered by a natty flap which is a bit like an iPad case.

Moving to the rear, space is a bit tight compared to a Skoda Fabia or Volkswagen Polo. Kids and shorter adults will be fine, but at 6’3” I was struggling to get comfortable. At least fitting a child seat should be easy thanks to the easy-access ISOFIX anchors, you just might have to slide the passenger seat forward a bit to fit a bulky rear-facing chair in.

But, just like on the old Clio, you do get a massive boot for a car of this size. At 391 litres, it’s exactly the same capacity as the old Clio, 10 litres bigger than a Skoda Fabia and a whopping 105 litres more than you get in a Toyota Yaris.

New Renault Clio engines

The new Renault Clio will be available with two engine options, neither of which is electric. If you want a small EV from Renault, you’ll need to check out the 5.

At the entry point you have a 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine which can be paired to either a six-speed manual or an automatic gearbox. It puts out 115hp and will do 0-62mph in 10.1 seconds.

Then there’s the new 160hp hybrid engine, which uses a 1.8-litre petrol engine and an electric motor. This version can shuffle along in slow-moving traffic without using the engine at all, making it ideal if you spend a lot of time in town. Renault also say it’ll do around 72mpg.

When can I buy the new Renault Clio?

The new Renault Clio will go on sale in Europe soon, but you’ll have to wait until the end of 2026 before it comes to the UK. The current Clio will remain on sale until the new one arrives.

As for prices, it’s a bit too soon to say how much it’ll cost yet. The current car starts from just under £19,000, so this new one may push up to £20,000 thanks to the added tech on board.

My verdict on the new Renault Clio

My first impressions of the new Clio are mostly positive. I’m still not sure about the new exterior styling, but the interior looks and feels posher than it should on a car in this class and it has a big boot as well.

You’ll have to wait until we drive this car to get a full verdict, but it’s off to a very good start.

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