Renault Zoe will not be replaced for another generation

The Renault Zoe, first released in 2012, will not be replaced, Renault boss Fabrice Cambolive has confirmed, ending its life as one of the best-selling electric cars in its home country.  

Instead, the Renault Clio and Renault Captur will continue so they can supplement Renault’s new electric compact car line-up, headed by the Renault 4 and 5 – both arriving by 2025.

Cambolive described this to Autocar as a dual approach where its hybrid and electric models co-exist for the foreseeable future.

He said: “It depends on the market. If a market is fully electric, okay, but most markets will have pure electric for the compact segment, and until 2035, if needed, we will have Clio and Captur too. They will have hybrid technology because that’s our solution, the technological choice we made to replace the normal of the combustion engine.”

The decision to cull the Zoe brings to an end a lifespan of more than a decade, during which it was the top-selling EV in Europe for two years running (2015-16) and achieved more than 100,000 sales in France alone.

A final date for the end of its production has yet to be confirmed.

Talking about the broader range, which will gain the new Renault Mégane and Renault Scenic imminently, Cambolive believes the perfect line-up in the European market is four electric and four hybrid models. Within those models, there should be a maximum of one engine and two or three equipment levels, he said.

The firm is focusing on the Mégane and Scenic first because it has prioritised its mid-sized models over compact ones. Cambolive said: “Within this 'Renovation' phase, we have said we will make more turnover per unit. For that, we decided to focus on our product line-up in the C-segment. We will have the Mégane shortly and the Scenic after that. And after that, we will come on to the compact segment.”