Renault's new third-generation Clio, due here in autumn, hopes to take the French supermini to new heights of success.
The first generation came out in 1991, winning the European Car of the Year accolade, while the second arrived in March 1998. Collectively, they have accounted for sales of over 8.5 million worldwide, not bad for a badge that has been around for a mere 14 years.
We haven't yet driven Clio III, but last week in Paris we attended a static preview. It's bigger and higher than its predecessor. The height is 58mm more than Clio II. Maybe the biggest surprise was the shape. There's nothing quirkily Gallic in the styling, nothing like the backside bustle that marks out the Megane bigger brother.
There are actually two profiles - three and five doors. The three door, which is meant for a younger audience, presents a more dynamic silhouette. Distinctive features in both are the huge air intake at the lower part of the bumper, and the curvaceous lamps which are in a sweep formation at each side of the bonnet. Renault claims that it can easily accommodate passengers more than 1.88m tall (or six-footers plus). Clio III customers in everyday shopping mode get 288 litres of boot space: that's with the rear bench seat in the normal position and loaded up to the parcel shelf. For extraordinary loads, there's a maximum 1,038 litre availability: bench seat folded down and car loaded to the roof.
On safety, Renault expects to get the highest five-star Euro NCAP rating. Clio III will offer up to eight airbags.
The engine line-up has three petrol options (1.2 16v, 1.4 16v and 1.6 16v) and the 1.5 dCi diesel. The 1.2 litre is likely to represent the bulk of Irish sales: diesels just don't make an impact in the price-conscious supermini segment.
Clio III shares the same platform as the Nissan Micra, the Nissan Cube, the no-frills Renault Dacia Logon and the Renault Modus which has MPV like architecture.
This new French arrival might just bring some revitalisation to the B or supermini segment here, which has surprisingly fallen back to 21 per cent of the total Irish market: it was nudging towards 30 per cent a year or two ago. Renault here will also be hoping it will lift Clio's current status from fifth best selling brand to maybe fourth or third. Meanwhile worldwide, Renault's latest offering has a lot of conquering to do.