Mitsubishi Express vs Renault Clio

What's the difference?

It has been a while since we’ve seen a Mitsubishi Express van on sale in Australia, and the one that has just launched here is a very different offering to its predecessor.

That’s because you could cover the tri-diamond badges on the grille or back door of the new 2020 Mitsubishi Express and be fooled into thinking that you’re looking at a Renault Trafic. Because you are.

The Express is a direct bi-product of the Alliance between Renault and Mitsubishi, and just like the Trafic, it’s made in France, at Renault’s Sandouville plant. 

This isn’t a comparison - the headline isn’t Mitsubishi Express vs Renault Trafic - but the question is: why would you choose one over the other?

You’d be correct in assessing this as an exercise in badge engineering - Mitsubishi calls it “branded product” - but it could well be that you’d choose an Express because Mitsubishi has a broader network of dealers (186 at the time of writing, versus Renault’s 56), not to mention the potential for major fleet discounts and an upstream ute alternative in the Triton that helps the brand “offer the complete LCV solution”. Renault, you could counter, has a smaller and larger van for its own “LCV solution”. 

There’s more to consider, including ownership, safety and value for money - read on for all the details.

I'm going to reveal something of myself here - I used to be a RenaultSport Clio owner. This is what the purists call what we now know as Clio RS, and I find myself constantly corrected yet unrepentant. It was a 172 - a nuggety three-door with wheels that looked too small, a weird seating position and a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine that was big on torque as long as you belted it.

It was a classic and you could still see the links back to the epoch-making Renault Clio Williams, that blue and gold Mk 1 Clio we never saw in Australia that redefined the genre. The current Clio has been around for four years now and I even drove this current RS Clio at its launch in 2013, memorable for the sudden bucketing rain that drenched the circuit and made things very interesting indeed.

This Clio was a big change from the cars that went before - slimmer-hipped, less aggressive-looking and with a 1.6-litre turbo engine, five-door-only body and (gasp!) no manual, just Renault's twin-clutch EDC transmission. It was a hit, at least with enthusiasts. Back then it was the dawn of a golden age in small hot hatches. But that was then, this is now. With a small power bump and a couple of features thrown in, is the ageing RS still at the pointy end?