Exactly ten years ago, Steve Norman, then Renault’s Senior Vice President of Global Marketing, looked ahead to the then-coming Clio. He then promised us a head turner and did not hesitate to use the word “icon”. For that moment great promises, but statements that Renault knows how to deliver.
In 2010, the Renault showroom looks very different from today. The third generation of the Clio has just been facelifted and the brand new Mégane is making an appearance. To make everyone warm up on the brand new Clio that Renault has in the barrel, Steve Norman makes bold statements to the British Autocar. On May 10, 2010 he quotes: “The new Clio is a potential icon. The car is going to do two things: give us a leading position in the largest segment of the European market and show people that cars are for the ‘ordinary man’ look fantastic. ”
Renault then takes until 2012 before the new Clio is actually unveiled. Norman does not seem to have lied two years before, because Renault knows how to deliver a tasty design. Tough, but also frivolous. If you look purely at the Dutch market, the fourth-generation Clio is able to attract far more customers to its dealers than its predecessors. In 2014 and 2015, Renault even registered a doubling of Clios sold compared to the third generation. It is too early to say that the fourth Clio has become a true icon, but it already says a lot that the brand new fifth generation Clio is still very similar to its predecessor. Steve Norman, it was a bull’s eye indeed.