Quelle shock: Arrival of the new Megane RS has timed with Renault announcing intent axe this performance arm in favour of an all-electric reboot.

LATEST editions of an iconic French performance car just becoming available in New Zealand now seem set to be the last of an illustrious line.

Renault’s announcement of having officially dissolved its Renault Sport line, in favour of making a fresh start with electric cars with the Alpine badge, is hardly a hot timing for the make’s national distributor.

Renault NZ is in the midst of putting all-effort into releasing an update of the race-bred sub-marque’s staple product, the Megane RS.

That push seems safe, in that Renault has suggested the car’s production won’t end quite yet, though it’s not being particularly clear about how much longer the assembly line will keep operating.

However, it does mean what we get now will never have a successor – at least in petrol form.

The mid-engined car that brought the Alpine nameplate back into the spotlight is also for the chop. The A110 that has been Alpine’s sole model since it was revived in 2017 is represented in New Zealand, but only as a private import.

The new Alpine is readying battery-reliant products, one believed to be a Clio-sized hot hatch based on Renault's CMF-B platform - speculated to be a production spin from the Renault 5-inspired concept (above) the Renault showed recently.

It also has a compact sports utility underpinned by the electrified CMF-EV platform.

The range topper is expected to be a full-out sports car co-developed with Lotus.

All three vehicles to launch globally by 2025.

The Megane RS coming here now presents as five-door hatchback with a 1.8-litre turbo petrol, making 224kW and 400Nm in the $65,990 manual and 420Nm when matched to an EDC transmission that carries a $3000 premium.