Photo: Renault
It’s not only passenger cars and vehicles powered by fossil fuels that are slowly being phased off, but EVs too. That said, a zero-emission model is on the chopping block, and it won’t get a direct successor.
Can you guess which one? Here’s a hint, it’s only being sold in Europe, and it’s made by Renault. That’s right, we’re talking about the Zoe, which has been around with minor updates ever since 2012.
According to the brand’s COO, Fabrice Cambolive, who spoke to Autocar on the subject, the Zoe will be discontinued after the current generation. The reason behind dropping a very popular model revolves around the fact that it is an aging product, and it needs to make room for the upcoming R5 and Clio in the supermini segment.
The exec believes that hybrid and electric vehicles will coexist in the near future, and the ideal lineup for Europe will comprise four electric and four electrified models with a single powertrain option, and two or three trim levels for each one. On the electric front, he is probably referring to the R4, R5, Megane, and Scenic, whereas the hybrids might be represented by the Clio, Captur, Arkana, and Austral.
“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,” said Cambolive. “They will have hybrid technology because that’s our solution, the technological choice we made to replace the normal of the combustion engine.”
Pulling the plug on a very popular model like the Zoe, which has sold in roughly 380,000 units ever since it hit the market one decade ago, with no second generation, is a bold move. Nonetheless, the role of the battery-electric supermini will be taken by the R5, expected to launch in 2025, around the same time as the R4. Moreover, they haven’t said when the Zoe will be dropped altogether, and we suspect that they might keep it around until its indirect successor is ready.
According to the brand’s COO, Fabrice Cambolive, who spoke to Autocar on the subject, the Zoe will be discontinued after the current generation. The reason behind dropping a very popular model revolves around the fact that it is an aging product, and it needs to make room for the upcoming R5 and Clio in the supermini segment.
The exec believes that hybrid and electric vehicles will coexist in the near future, and the ideal lineup for Europe will comprise four electric and four electrified models with a single powertrain option, and two or three trim levels for each one. On the electric front, he is probably referring to the R4, R5, Megane, and Scenic, whereas the hybrids might be represented by the Clio, Captur, Arkana, and Austral.
“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,” said Cambolive. “They will have hybrid technology because that’s our solution, the technological choice we made to replace the normal of the combustion engine.”
Pulling the plug on a very popular model like the Zoe, which has sold in roughly 380,000 units ever since it hit the market one decade ago, with no second generation, is a bold move. Nonetheless, the role of the battery-electric supermini will be taken by the R5, expected to launch in 2025, around the same time as the R4. Moreover, they haven’t said when the Zoe will be dropped altogether, and we suspect that they might keep it around until its indirect successor is ready.
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