Renault's upcoming Mégane hatchback will receive a 'more sporting' design in a bid to claw back sales from Ford and Volkswagen, and will go on sale early next year
These are the latest pictures of the next-generation 2016 Renault Megane, which has been spotted again ahead of a planned on-sale date early next year.
The new model is likely to receive its global debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September, and will become a crucial model for Renault as it fights to match the current generation of family hatchbacks from Ford, Vauxhall and the Volkswagen Group.
As these spy pictures reveal, the third-generation family hatchback will take on a sportier stance and is expected to mix design themes established by the smaller Clio and larger Captur.
The key details from the Clio and Captur will be the curved door shape with its 'waisted-in" body side, together with the new corporate face which features a prominent Renault logo on a dark plastic, full-width narrow grille. A new roof-mounted lip spoiler can also be seen at the rear.
"We won’t be going back to the shape of the Mégane II," UK product manager Yann Le Graet told Autocar last year. "The low roof gives us something different from the Golf. It makes the Mégane more sporting, more appealing."
The Mégane II was a huge success, winning the European Car of the Year award in 2003 and going on to become the best-selling hatch in its class just after launch.
"We think the [current] facelifted model is competitive on price, equipment and styling," said Le Graet. "The all-new model will win us back more retail customers.
"We will have to concentrate on retail customers and this will also help our user-chooser sales."
The interior of the new Mégane is tipped to feature higher-quality plastics and sharper design, with many control functions transferred to a generously sized central touchscreen. Top-spec models are expected to be equipped with a nine-inch screen while lower-spec models will receive a seven-inch item.
The touchscreen will clean up the interior by reducing the number of minor switches. Such a move would allow Renault to echo the i-Cockpit design now preferred by French rivals Peugeot.
"We won’t go quite as far as Peugeot, though, in reducing the switchgear," added Le Graet.
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