Renault is eyeing more electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids for Australia in the coming years, meeting the government’s new emissions regulations with a raft of new models kick-started by the Scenic E-Tech .
Asked by media at the local launch of the revived Scenic, Arnaud Mourgue, Renault’s country manager for Oceania said he was confident that Renault would be ahead of New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) penalties.
“Scenic, as you know, is a key weapon to fight the NVES policy,” he said.
“So we need that in order to generate credits, and it’s in this environment that we place a lot of hope, and we are quite confident that Scenic will be able to generate credit for us with the stronger USPs [unique selling propositions] of the vehicle.”
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Renault Scenic E-Tech
Under the NVES, brands that outperform each year’s average fleet-wide carbon emission target will create ‘credits’ which they can use to offset the sale of less efficient cars. They also sell these credits to other manufacturers who are struggling to meet their targets.
In the future, Renault EVs such as the Scenic E-Tech (costing $55,990 before on-road costs) will be increasingly important for the brand; these rules will penalise manufacturers who exceed strict carbon emissions targets over the next few years.
While Renault was one of several brands to meet the first fleet-wide CO2 target last year, thereby avoiding penalties for the time being, its local arm has so far been reluctant to introduce additional EVs beyond the current Kangoo E-Tech, Megane E-Tech, and now Scenic E-Tech.
But the brand’s French executives maintain that more Renault EVs and hybrids are in the pipeline for Australia, consistent with a previous commitment to introduce six new or refreshed models locally before the end of 2026 – starting with the Scenic.
Mr Mourgue said he believes ‘[Scenic] is part of a plan to expand the range of full-electric vehicles in Australia with [hybrid], which will be available later on.
It is a study of all the opportunities to bring and expand the electric car in Australia,’ said. The biggest problem today is that the largest segment in Australia is the medium and large SUVs, so small cars like the Renault 4, Renault 5 and Twingo represent a very small part of the Australian market. Paraphrasingr ’It is.
Mourgue said Renault is ‘always looking at opportunities’ to introduce smaller EVs to Australia, but would remain focused on providing a ‘proper alternative’ in the local medium- and large segments.
“But we remain open, and I will say on the small car, we have the Renault 5 Turbo 3E, which is available for Australia and which will be quite interesting also for very few customers in Australia,” he said.
Renault Twingo E-Tech
Renault 5 E-Tech
Beyond the wild $300,000-plus Renault 5 Turbo 3E, it’s unlikely we’ll see the smaller Renault Twingo, Renault 4 E-Tech, or Renault 5 E-Tech in Australia any time soon. Non-compliance with Australian Design Rules was cited as a key factor, with Renault hesitant to invest in the necessary changes.
Still, there’s plenty that could be brought to Australia before the end of 2026. The arrival of the Scenic E-Tech leaves five new or refreshed models still to come, with candidates at this point including the Symbioz small hybrid SUV (potentially replacing the Captur) and the larger, Geely-based Filante hybrid SUV.
Other possibilities include an Arkana with hybrid technology, and the Dacia Bigster – the latter of which would almost certainly be rebadged as a Renault, as was the case with the Duster. The Megane E-Tech may also be due for an update in Australia.
But Renault Australia general manager Glen Sealey said his brand ‘may have some surprises’ in the next six months with no confirmed.
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