The new supermini is even better, says Ross Finlay, and it's cheaper

There may be a danger of the new Renault Clio, which goes on sale today, getting lost in the story line of its own television commercial. Yes, Nicole and Papa are about to hit the screens again, in chapter eight of a story which began in the family's vineyard-surrounded chateau in Provence, as long ago as April 1991.

Renault is obviously hoping that millions of viewers will be on the edges of their seats tonight, when Nicole gets married to some so-far anonymous British bloke.

That is really no surprise because, although you might think this is an all-Europe commercial, it is actually just for the UK.

The previous Clio reached number two slot in the Scottish new-car registration league earlier this year. That was quite a performance, considering that the imminent arrival of its replacement had been well publicised. In fact, one curious thing about the first-series Clio was that in the UK market its best full sales year, out of the six in which it appeared, was its last one, in 1997.

Taken overall, the new car is not a radical change, more a substantial refinement of the original. Model for model, the specifications have been improved but, model for model once again, the prices are actually lower.

The combination of these two factors shows that Renault is getting stuck into the supermini market, realising that it is stronger there than in several other sectors where it is represented.

Right from the static launch earlier in the year it was clear that the factory's quality control has been improved. Anti-lock brakes are standard fit on half of the models in the range, while options range from side airbags to a heat-reflective windscreen with particles of silver and titanium between the twin glass layers.

Despite looking similar to its predecessor, the latest Clio is based on a completely new structure, and closer attention has been paid to safety features.

The whole car is more robust, and it should be much stronger in the event of a crash. All the new Clios come with an eight-year anti-corrosion warranty.

The engine choice includes 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6-litre eight-valve petrol engines, all quite recently introduced in other cars in the Renault catalogue, and they will soon be joined by a new 16-valve 1.6 from the rather confusingly labelled K-series.

This has no connection with the identically named design from Rover. There is also a 1.9-litre 65bhp diesel, with a more advanced and very torquey direct injection turbodiesel of the same capacity still to come.

Base model of the range is the three-door Clio 1.2 at #8350 on the road. The first diesel comes in at #8950, RN specification cars cost from #8850, RT versions from #9550, and the RXE types, all 1.6s with air conditioning as standard, are in the showrooms at prices from #11,250 for the three-door manual to #12,500 for the five-door automatic.

One factor in the keener pricing of the new Clio is that it is much quicker to build than the previous model. Something like #420m of the whole #750m budget to produce the latest car went on overdue improvements to the factory.