The Renault Clio has quite a unique brief in the supermini class given the legendary status the first- and second-generation models achieved.
Unlike most cars that are designed to cater for a certain sector of the community, the Clio has to appeal across the board. It must be a hit with first-time buyers, which means it has to be cheap to buy, run and insure, safe yet sufficiently fashionable not to spell social death.
But it must also appeal to the more experienced enthusiast driver, looking for va-va-voom and expecting the Clio to provide it. Then there are those with families who need a practical shopping car and those whose families have long fled the nest who want something safe, small and reliable.
When the Clio 3 arrived, there wasn’t an awful lot wrong with the incumbent Clio 2 at a marketing or commercial level. But although it was remarkably popular with buyers, there was a heck of a lot that’s wrong about the current Clio 2 that the Clio 3 aimed to fix.
The Clio 2’s interior was cramped and constructed from materials of questionable integrity. And the driving position is poor. And although the fast versions fulfilled their dynamic brief, cooking models were not as comfortable or easy to drive as superminis should be.
Step forward, then, the Clio 3, naturally. It is bigger than any other Clio before it, but also more accommodating, easier to drive and built of considerably higher quality materials. Or so says the press pack, anyway.
It’s a tough enough ask to match or beat its forbearers, let alone rise to the top of the most competitive market segment out there. But will this Clio fall into the trap of trying to be the jack of all trades and mastering none?
