Words: Richard Edwards
Published 9 May 2026
Renault has done the thing it does so well, taken a perfectly sensible small electric crossover and made it slightly silly in the best possible way.
The new Renault 4 Plein Sud, just announced for the UK at £27,445 (around NZ$62,000), gets a full-length electric folding cloth roof that opens to reveal an 80 by 92cm patch of sky. Renault reckons that opening is wider than anything else in the segment.
The name translates, roughly, to “due south”, and it’s a nod to the original Renault 4 Plein Air of the late 1960s, a doorless, roofless beach trolley that has aged into something close to mythology. The new one is more sensible. It keeps its doors. It keeps its tailgate. It keeps 28 of the latest EU safety systems, including driver fatigue monitoring and emergency stop, because 2026.
What it doesn’t keep is the standard car’s roof rails or its antenna, both deleted to make room for the canvas. The roof itself was developed with Webasto and Haartz, uses plastic structural elements to save weight, and folds into three layers instead of the usual four. It opens with a button above the windscreen or, if you’re feeling French about it, a voice command to Renault’s Reno assistant.
Mechanically nothing changes. The Plein Sud uses the same 110kW front motor and 52kWh battery as the regular 4, with a 0-100km/h time of 8.2 seconds and a 420-litre boot. Range drops slightly, from 397km to 389km on the WLTP cycle, thanks to the extra weight and a small aero penalty.
Pricing in the UK starts in mid-spec Techno+ trim, with 18-inch diamond-cut alloys, dual-zone climate, a 10-inch Google-powered touchscreen, wireless phone mirroring and charging, adaptive cruise, and hands-free park assist. Iconic+ at £29,445 adds black wheels, a powered tailgate, heated seats and steering wheel, yellow contrast trim, and a fuller suite of driver aids.
Which brings us to the bit that hurts
Renault, of course, no longer sells passenger cars in New Zealand. The brand quietly paused its car business here in 2024 and the local website now lists exactly one nameplate, the Master van, in cargo and minibus form. The Trafic and Kangoo have been dropped entirely.
There are signs of life. Renault NZ is reportedly reviewing its local range, both passenger and light commercial, with a return to selling cars not ruled out.
We’d like to gently suggest the review factor in this car. And the Renault 5. And, while we’re being optimistic, the Alpine A290 hot hatch version too.
In a market increasingly dominated by worthy but interchangeable B-segment EVs, a French one with a cloth roof and a 1960s in-joke for a name would stand out instantly.
