You’d be forgiven for thinking manufacturers had given up on the combustion-powered supermini. The Ford Fiesta is dead, it seems the Volkswagen Polo will go EV-only for its next generation (as will the Skoda Fabia as a result, probably), and a lot of the new entries to the market are looking towards pure electric power.
Given the success of the Renault 5, it wouldn’t have been a real shock to see the French firm ditch its petrol-powered hatches this time around, too. That’s not the case, though – meet the new Renault Clio.
Sixth-generation Renault Clio, rear 3/4
Now in its sixth generation, the Clio comes with the choice of hybrid power or just petrol for us in the UK. The former of those options pairs up a newly-developed 1.8-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine with two electric motors, with those drawing power from a 1.4kWh battery pack.
Combined, that produces 158bhp at its peak, and Renault says it’ll run in electric-only mode for up to 80 per cent of the time. Given it’s a ‘self-charging’ setup with the batteries recharged by the four-pot, it doesn’t offer a fully-dedicated EV mode.
More interesting to us, though, is the retained 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder. Not because it’s quick – it offers up just 113bhp and will do 0-62mph in 10.1 seconds – but because it comes with a six-speed manual gearbox. In this economy?
Sixth-generation Renault Clio, rear
Europe will also get an LPG option and a dual-clutch for the petrol engine when it goes on sale in January 2026, but these won’t come to the UK. Oh, and on that point, neither will the Clio itself until 2027, thanks to a relatively late call on whether to bring it to the market at all.
So for now, these pictures are all you’re going to see of it, unless you make any trips to the continent next year and see one kicking around. Until then, you can make your judgments on the design from some glossy press photos.
No doubt it’s quite a radical departure from the Clio that came before, to us looking more like it’s borrowed inspiration from a bit of Subaru Crosstrek at the front three-quarter, a touch of Ford Focus straight-on, a hint of Ferrari Purosangue and the back and overall a bit of Peugeot, rather than anything Renault. We’ll leave it to you if any of that is a good or bad thing.
Sixth-generation Renault Clio, interior
In contrast, the interior is pretty standard Renault at this point. High-spec cars will come with a 10.1-inch infotainment system laced with Google integration, as well as the usual Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support. We’ve tried that system in countless models so far, and we’re always left impressed with it – there’s no reason to believe it won’t be just as good here.
Go for an Espri Alpine, and you’ll also get some dashboard trim that’s supposed to mimic the sort of titanium exhaust you’d find on a JDM-imported Hawkeye Subaru Impreza WRX STI that’s seen some fettling. We’re not necessarily sure that was Renault’s intended angle, but it’s what we’re running with.
Sixth-generation Renault Clio, interior trim
Anything else of note? Well, boot space remains at 391 litres despite the sixth-gen car measuring 67mm longer, though rear passengers should feel that increase with some extra legroom.
As for pricing, no official word yet, although no surprise given it’s over a year out from coming to our shores. We’d expect it to start somewhere around the £20,000 mark, with prices nudging over £30,000 for top-spec cars.
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