Do you remember how this station wagon made its very first public appearance? It was around the last Paris Motor Show, right after the fourth Clio was showed. But while the hatchback was having its official worldwide release, the family-dedicated sibling was only glanced, in a backstage video published by Renault at that time to show more information of the new cars. Estate is now released in Europe, but it’s still worth taking a moment to observe how great turned to be this job performed by Renault.
Creating a car leads to deal with lots of conceptual decisions, way before starting to convert the design sketches into what will be manufactured. Each category demands a particular external size and has its particular competitors, so one of the biggest decision is on what subdivisions the car will compete – in other words, what variations it’ll receive. The strategy of deriving sedan, wagon, minivan, pick-up and other categories from a single car became famous around the 1980s, with cars like Opel Kadett E and Renault Mégane. Since the main idea here is to reduce costs by having cars from different categories sharing several parts, the initial examples used to change almost only the rear section. But in nowadays it’s necessary to deal with a much more competitive market, which demands each car to be as original and creative as it can possibly be, even when it’s “related” to others. That’s why even those are receiving more exclusive parts, inside and outside, achieving whole different variations. However, if sharing parts is the solution to save money, the simplest logic states that reducing those common items would result at more expensive cars. That’s why there are so many automakers working to make that sharing start from the very beginning of each project.
Besides having each time fewer platforms for more cars, another very important strategy is to project all the intended siblings from the beginning. Renault was criticized for the second-generation Clio because of the Turkish Symbol: this sedan variation had no previous planning on the hatchback’s project and also had to be cheap, which fatally resulted at a very unattractive design and bad sales outside its homeland. The third phase never had a sedan but tried to offer a station wagon for the first time, which was so well-accepted that is now succeeded by the gorgeous car of this article’s pictures. It’s clear that Clio Estate (or Grandtour, for some markets) isn’t a last-minute adaptation of the hatchback. It brings the same elegant sportiness, with smooth volumes, a very stylish front fascia and great attention to the details, such as the opulent-but-not-too-big tail lights, the same hidden back handles as in the hatchback and all the columns with black paint but the front ones: the roof ends up like it’s floating over the windows, which in turn seem all connected. This car will offer the same items as Clio, which includes R-Link infotainment system and Bass Reflex audio, but with 443L to 1.380L at the trunk. With diesel it’ll use a dCi 1.5L with 75 or 90 hp, and with gasoline a 75-hp 1.2L or the TCe Energy 1.2L with 90 hp. The prices go from € 14.300 to € 20.500.
