Renault is poised to launch a range-topping performance version of the Megane E-Tech next year as part of a radical styling makeover that will reposition the EV as a hot hatch.
The move is motivated by a desire to revive the Megane E-Tech’s appeal and reverse a sharp fall in sales of the car over the past 18 months.
Speaking at the Munich motor show, Renault brand CEO Fabrice Cambolive confirmed the Megane E-Tech will be repositioned as “a hot hatch or a hot car”, adding: “That’s the direction we want to go in.”
He also told reporters that Renault is exploring the viability of a new performance model and will show the “first proposals” within 12 months.
While he declined to give further details, the two are expected to be linked.
The brand’s last true dedicated sporting model was the fourth-generation Megane RS hot hatch, which went out of production in 2023 with the 296bhp Ultime run-out special.
Renault has begun experimenting with sportier models again recently, bringing to market the exclusive, £140,000 5 Turbo 3E – a 533bhp hyper-hatch designed to show what a Renault performance EV is capable of.
The new top-rung Megane E-Tech model isn’t expected to receive such a lofty power output, but a more feasible option is apparent from its Ampr Medium platform-mates.
Of those, the new Alpine A390’s bespoke 464bhp tri-motor powertrain isn’t likely to be transferred to the Megane E-Tech, but the Nissan Ariya Nismo’s 429bhp dual-motor set-up could be in play. The current Megane E-Tech is offered exclusively with a single electric motor and a topend output of 215bhp.
It is not yet known if the new range-topping Megane E-Tech will take the Renaultsport name.
Cambolive hinted that the Renault Group could decide to continue using the Alpine brand exclusively for dedicated sports cars.
Previously, in February, the Renault Group’s then CEO, Luca de Meo, described Renaultsport to Autocar as being “in the fridge” and said that while “everything sporty would be building on Alpine”, that “doesn’t mean that sometimes this thing wouldn’t be revived”.
On the viability of the Megane E-Tech rangetopper potentially spawning a series of new performance cars, Cambolive said “we have to find the right balance” between cost and demand before any approval is given.
