Renault’s newly-launched Clio Sport Tourer takes to three the number of small wagons on the UK market, or four if the new Mini Clubman is included.
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The Clio Sport Tourer will go on sale in the UK from next spring, a couple of months after left-hand drive sales start in France.
“We think the UK will be a big market for the car but the Sport Tourer is being built alongside the Clio III at Oyak [Bursa, Turkey] and we need that time to build up for right-hand drive production,” said Yves-Eric Morel, programme vice director, small cars, at Renault.
The Oyak production line is totally flexible. “We can switch from hatchback to estate to meet demand,” said Morel. Renault has invested about GBP25m at Oyak for Clio Sport Tourer production.
“It’s a new market for us and we are obviously competing directly with the Peugeot 207 SW,” he said. The other contender is the redesigned Skoda Fabia Estate, unveiled, like the Clio, at the Frankfurt show this week.
“We’ve had good feedback so far on the design and the boot is bigger than on the Peugeot,” said Morel.
It’s an area of the market where he thinks design is very important – and why he thinks the Clio will have an advantage.
