What's all this about?

There's an all-new, fifth-generation Renault Clio looming large on the horizon and this is our first look at the important, impending supermini's interior.

Important? The Clio?

You're not kidding. Since 1990, Renault has shifted 15 million of the things across four generations, so the new one has a lot to live up to. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the styling of the new Clio's cabin takes inspiration from its big brother, the Megane, but Renault has had a go at upping the quality levels. First up, the dashboard is arranged into three tiers. At the top is a soft-touch, padded layer for the premium feel, then there's a broad strip of coated, customisable material that forms the eye-candy and at the bottom is the more pragmatic section, which houses things like the glovebox and various storage compartments, including one that will be home to a wireless smartphone charging pad. Whether this is standard across the Clio Mk5 range remains to be seen, of course. However, let's move on to the biggest screens in the segment. Or so says Renault.

How big?

All models of Clio Mk5 will apparently gain the 9.3-inch, portrait R-Link infotainment screen you can see dominating the dash. Underneath it are piano buttons for the controls and then rotary dials for the climate settings, which Renault says aids ergonomic correctness. Move your eyes to the Clio's instrument cluster, though, and you'll note that's also digital. This display will be at least seven inches across the diagonal, but there's a ten-inch effort on more upmarket versions that will also be capable of displaying GPS satnav.

What are the other key details?

There's a new, smaller steering wheel - thanks to the use of a more compact airbag - that features backlit switchgear. The gear lever is mounted higher up on an extrusion of the centre console, while the Clio's seats are said to be more ergonomic and easier to adjust than they were on the Mk4. Even the door cards have a soft-touch finish to them, while eight customisable interior colour schemes will change various key visual bits of the cabin to give a different ambience. There's also eight-colour ambient lighting.

Any words from the Renault crew?

Laurens van der Acker, the senior vice-president for Renault's Corporate Design, said: "The fifth-generation Clio is very important for us, as it is the best-seller in its segment and the second best-selling car in Europe, all categories combined. The Clio is an icon, and the latest features the very best of the previous generations. The exterior design of Clio Mk4 won over our customers and continues to do so today, so we chose to keep that DNA while bringing modernity and elegance to the new model. The interior has undergone a true revolution, with a considerable improvement in perceived quality, greater sophistication and technology. It is the best Clio yet."