Renault Megane gets a tweak for 2020 and, of course, a plug-in hybrid option

Renault has given the Megane a very mild titivate for 2020, and added the option of a plug-in hybrid powertrain promising up to 40 miles of EV range.

Regular versions of the Renault Megane have always struggled to compete with the likes of the Ford Focus and VW Golf, and the very mild facelift Renault has given the Megane for 2020 aren’t enough to change that.

If nothing else, that’s because the changes Renault has wrought to the Megane are so minor you’ll be hard pushed to see them unless you park up a 2019 Megane next to a 2020 Megane.

On the outside, the changes for 2020 are some slightly different fog light housings, slightly different headlights and a mildly titivated chrome grille. That’s it, apart from a new R.S. Line trim to replace the GT Line.

Inside there are a few more changes, with a new 9.3″ portrait touchscreen, new HVAC controls and 10.3″ digital instruments.

The big change – the same change every other car maker is making as they try to avoid average emission fines – is the arrival of a plug-in powertrain option.

It’s borrowed from the Clio and Captur, and in the Megane it uses a 1.6 litre petrol engine and two electric motors, plus a 9.8kWh battery, to deliver 158bhp and a range of up to 40 miles (around town, 30 miles on quick roads) but, for now, you’ll only be able to have the plug-in hybrid option on the Megane Estate.

Other tweaks to the Megane range for 2020 include an increase in power for the Megane R.S. to 296bhp, the same as the Trophy and Trophy R.

Sales of the titivated Megane won’t start until the summer, by which time Renault will have worked out prices and performance specs for the plug-in hybrid.