New Megane has a slimline look

The new Renault Megane has lost its big rear end and benefits from a step-up in quality, says motoring editor Peter Carroll.

It was around the turn of the millennium that Renault cars suddenly began to look rather weird.

Vehicles like the Vel Satis, Avantime and Megane were given futuristic designs with unusual angles and distinctively chunky rear ends.

It may have been appropriate to herald the dawn of the new century with radical new shapes but not all proved popular with buyers: the Vel Satis and Avantime are already long gone but the Megane did perform strongly, with 8.5 million models sold since its launch in 2003.

Even then, while the car was popular in Italy, France and Spain, sales were more sluggish in other countries where the big-bottomed look was less admired.

Renault duly took note and the new Megane Hatch has been given more conservative styling with an altogether more pert rear end.

The French also took a leaf out of Vauxhall's book and gave the five-door car a racier-looking three-door sister - the Megane Coupe.

The new range therefore has a rather schizophrenic character: the five-door Hatch is practical but straight-laced and a bit of a frump, while the three-door model is fresh, funky and looks up for anything.

The Coupe loses a little internal space compared with the Hatch but its chic looks and feeling of joie de vivre are more than ample compensation.

Prices start at £13,995 for the Hatch and £14,745 for the Coupe, which Renault sees as a rival to both the Vauxhall Sport Hatch and even the more expensive VW Scirocco.

Each car has three trim levels, Expression, Dynamique and Privilege, and there's a wide range of engine choice, though nothing outrageously quick - yet. More powerful RenaultSport variants will doubtless be along in due course.

The tendency for cars to increase in size when a new model follows the old has been resisted. The new Megane is the same length as its predecessor, yet weighs on average 8kgs less.

The lighter weight does not mean that safety has been compromised in any way. Safety remains a strong suit with the new Megane, just as it was with the old car.

Renault insisted at the launch that no other car offered better passive safety features in its class and it does look commendably solid.

Not only does the structure of the car give a high level of protection, the Megane also sports a plethora of airbags and a host of features aimed at preventing collisions, from electronic stability control to understeer control.

But there was also another issue for Renault to tackle with the new car: the less than glowing reputation earned by the previous Megane for reliability.

The firm's president Carlos Ghosn pledged to up Renault's performance in terms of quality and the results of this strategy are starting to become apparent.

Like the recently-launched Laguna, the new Megane has a beautifully finished cabin.

Space is reasonable in the Hatch, but the Coupe is probably best viewed as a four-seater. At least visibility out of the three-door car is good, unlike some other coupe-style cars you could mention.

At the car's launch in Spain two engine variants were available to test: the new 180PS two litre petrol and the dCi 130. Each was pleasing to drive but most buyers are likely to have to make do with lesser powered models.

While the vehicles rode well, if firmly, on the smooth Spanish road surfaces, with roll kept well under control, it will be interesting to see how they cope with the bumpier roads of the UK.

The new electronic power steering has been designed to be more direct but some may not find it as involving as they had hoped.

Nevertheless, this a greatly improved car, particularly in three door form - but then it needed to be.

There's a new Golf on the horizon and other competitors are upping their game all the while.

There is not a great focus on performance in the initial Megane range but Renault has proved with the current R26 that it can make outstanding hot hatches and there will be a lot of folk out there who can hardly wait for the first of the RenaultSport models to arrive.

Including me.

By Peter Carroll