Renault Sport insists it was considering building its concept Clio RS16 with a manual transmission and Megane RS engine – but the news isn’t good for French hot-hatch fans.

According to Renault’s European press office the decision has been made to not produce a limited batch of Clio RS16 models, with the company focusing on building its reborn Alpine sports coupe rival to the Alfa Romeo 4C and Porsche Cayman.

“Clio RS is built at the Alpine Dieppe [France] plant,” a company spokesperson explained to the UK’s TopGear.

Renault alpine vision

“The option of delaying RS16 until after the start-up of Alpine was considered but this would have meant first-half 2018 [and] too long for customers to wait.”

Based on the timing of the previous-generation production model, the 2006 Clio III RS took seven years to switch to the 2013 Clio IV RS – and that current model would be five years and around three-quarters through its lifecycle by 2018.

Rs16 side

The concept Clio RS16 took the Megane RS275 Trophy-R’s 202kW/360Nm 2.0-litre turbo, six-speed manual and wider front architecture and teamed it with a rear from the Clio R3T rally car. The fattened, wide-body light hatchback even scored adjustable Ohlins dampers and crackly Akropovic exhaust.

Renault clio rs16

All focus is now clearly on the $70K-plus Alpine project previewed in near-roadgoing form by the Vision Concept earlier this year. The production version is expected to debut at the Geneva motor show in March 2017.