Renault Megane wagon confirmed for Australia | CarAdvice

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Renault Megane wagon confirmed for Australia

RENAULT MEGANE
By Jez Spinks |
FIND DEALS

A wagon version of the Renault Megane will be the latest model to continue the French brand’s revival in Australia.

Renault Australia confirmed the Megane Estate, as its known in Europe, will join the small-car range in mid 2013, joining the five-door Megane hatch and related Fluence sedan.

The more practical Megane will be offered with a choice of petrol or diesel power.

Renault Australia says final pricing has yet to be signed off but that the Megane wagon will start somewhere in the high-$20,000 bracket.

“[The pricing will] make it one of the best-value wagons on the market,” said Renault Australia spokeswoman Emily Ambrosy.

“The Megane wagon represents an opportunity for us to further expand and grow our range in a relatively uncrowded but solid segment of the market.”

“The wagon is a very practical and stylish choice for customers and we are confident that the introduction of this new vehicle will attract new customers to the Renault brand.”

Renault’s five-year unlimited kilometre warranty will be included.

The Renault Megane wagon, at 4.56m, is longer than the hatch, with its 62mm-longer wheelbase helping to create an extra 61mm of rear-seat legroom. There’s more boot space and a longer load length with the rear seats folded.

There’s 25 litres of storage space in the rest of the cabin, says Renault, including a 9L glovebox.

  • Latin Fish Names

    This is a smart move by Renault. I’m not a fan of the Megane, cheap looking interior, odd looks to my eyes, but I see this car offering good family transport to a lot of families.

  • James W

    I agree ‘LFN’ ,this is a very good decision and a smart move by Renault in Australia, as there seem’s to be an impression that small wagons don’t sell in Australia from other manufacturers – Toyota and Ford Australia are two that seem to think that, by not offering the all new Corolla and Focus wagons here.

    I believe there seems to be some momentum gathering for small wagons in Australia. While Renault will release the all new Clio wagon here next year, they’ll also release the Megane wagon, while Holden is readying the Cruze wagon and Kia is trying all it can to get the C’eed wagon here too. They’ll join the Volkswagen Golf, Skoda Fabia and Octavia, Peugeot 207 and 308 and Opel Astra wagons that are already here on sale.

    Small wagons don’t sell, because the choice is so few!! If other manufacturers offered more choice, then maybe they’d see more people wanting to buy them. But here’s the thing, THEY DON’T!! And they do this, by offering Compact SUV’s instead!! This then forces people into something they don’t necessarily need.

    Manufacturers make more money out of compact SUV’s than what they would out of small wagons. They don’t tell you that it cost’s more to buy and run in the first place and that it won’t drive as good as a small wagon would either.

    Hyundai’s decision not to import the all new Hyundai i30 wagon to Australia is a strange move also and one that I think Hyundai will reverse once they work out that it was a stupid decision. They’re argument is that it’s built only in Europe and the logistics are importing here is too hard!! Well, someone forgot to mention that to Kia, Hyundai’s sister brand, where they’re trying all they can to get the ‘Europe only’ Kia C’eed wagon to Australia! The i30 and the C’eed are both built on the same platform and are both built in Eastern Europe, but only Kia is making a business case for it?? The previous i30 wagon made up 20% of all i30 sales in Australia and Hyundai is just going to throw all that away??

    Toyota won’t offer the Corolla wagon here because of the Rav 4 and Prius V, yet if they’d offer the Corolla wagon here instead of the the stupid Rukus, they’d sell more!!

    Ford won’t because they say it’s too hard to import two different models of the same car from two different countries. Because the Focus now comes from Thailand and it’s only built in hatch and sedan in Thailand, then that’s all we get too!! But then, Ford will import the Focus ST from Germany?? Two different models of the same car from two different countries??!! Why couldn’t they just ask for a few hundred units of the Focus wagon to accompany the Focus ST on the same boat out of Germany?? Too hard basket for Ford Australia I think. Or, they’ll wait and see what the competition does and then it’s too late!! Typical Ford Australia, too slow to react to market conditions and wont take the lead!

    And notice it’s the Asian brands, apart from Kia, that don’t want to play in the small wagon segment?? Ok, Honda have just announced that they’re too going to release a Civic wagon, but will that make it here?? But where’s Mitsubishi, Mazda, Nissan and Suzuki?? That’s because they have their SUV’s!!

    And notice it’s the European’s that are making the move into the small wagon segment of the market?? Yes they have their SUV’s too, but the Europeans have been very slow to move into the SUV market and sales are nowhere near that of the Asian brands.

    If people have read this rant before, that’s because I’ve said this before on another site, so my apologies for repeating myself!!

    There are a lot of people out there that want a small wagon, myself included!! I just don’t see the point in owning an SUV unless you’re going to take it off the road on a regular basis! I want a small wagon for the space and the drive!!

    • Henry F

      A little bit long-winded James, but you’ve raised some good points :-)  

      I also have a preference for a small-sized wagon but alas there doesn’t seem to much in the way of options (thanks to the SUV trend). I have a preference for Japanese marques but most of them seem to be either too mid-size and above, or boxy in style.

      I’m a little bit dubious of some of the Euro marques (particularly with DSG, particularly in stop/start as I experienced with a hire-car), however don’t mind the Skoda. And SUVs are kind of pointless for me at least when all I need it is for around town.

      If only Honda, Mazda & Toyota had some small wagons on offer, I’d be happier…

      If nothing else becomes available soon, might have to go the Octavia RS.

    • Latin Fish Names

      James… bang on with your comments.

  • WAGONWHEELS

    Build an RS265 version and I will buy one. Immediately.
    also…why is the Focus ST Estate not going to be sold here…that would be another great option
    How about a Golf GTi Wagon…or an R Wagon…
    BRING ON THE HOT WAGONS!
    Gets the family tick of approval and is fun to drive…what’s not to like!

    • Legnab

      There is the skoda octavia wagon RS technically a GTI , iam sure the focus st wagon would be a success.

  • tiddy

    Not as good as a Veloster turbo…………………..

    • Kd

      No one cares about your stupid crappy Veloster Turbo

      • Latin Fish Names

        Leave tiddy alone, you may make him sad about his Veloster turbo.

    • Edwin

      like to see you against a RS 265…eat my dust

  • Jerrycan

    Looks nice but the back seats must be very claustrophobic with the low roofline and small windows? Defeats the main reason for buying a small wagon.

    • Nasal Explorer

      I thought the reason to buy a small wagon would be for the additional luggage space, not the backseat passengers’ experience.