The next shipment of Renault Megane RS hot hatchbacks will be the last

The end of an era for Renault hot hatch fans in Australia is just around the corner.

The 40 final editions of the Renault Megane RS hot hatch – known as the Ultime – destined for Australia are due to go into production in France in March.

And the distributor for Renault cars in Australia has confirmed they will be joined by a batch of about 20 regular Trophy models. 

“Once they’re gone, they’re gone,” Renault Australia boss Glen Sealey told a recent media briefing.

“Most of the final editions are accounted for. In fact, some of our staff have put up their hand to try to secure one.

“There are no cars that we are aware of in dealer stock. The next batch of Megane RS will be the last.”

While there may eventually be an electric successor to the turbocharged hot hatch, for now no plans have been announced.

In any case, the spiritual successor to the Renault Megane RS is poised to wear the Alpine badge as part of a plan to more clearly define the French car giant’s performance models.

This means the final batch of Renault Megane hot hatches due in Australia by the middle of the year – after they roll off the assembly line next month – will also be the last performance cars to wear the Renault Sport badge locally.

Meantime, Renault Australia has for now drawn a line through any future variants of the smaller Clio – even though the city hatch is still available in Europe.

When asked if the Renault Clio could make a comeback in Australia after it was dropped locally due to shrinking sales of small cars, Mr Sealey said: “No, that segment's just tiny now. It’s just disappearing. It’s too hard to make a profit (on small cars) and there’s not enough demand.

“I know it’s not a hot hatch, but the Renault Captur (city SUV) fills the void as our entry point into the Renault range in Australia.”