Curvaceous Zoe offers flexibility

Cars carry 1.4 people on average, yet two seats is seen as not enough. So Zoe, a city car concept from Renault, has three plus a roomy boot.

Renault is well known for quirky cars strong on function, even if the styling is sometimes an acquired taste.

Its latest offering from Geneva is the Zoe, a small, urban car featuring a glass roof that curves down to meet the doors and is anchored only by a central metal spine.

Curves are the main feature of this car, with curved pillars flanking a huge, panoramic windscreen and the two glass sunroofs swooping into the rear window.

Renault senior vice-president of corporate design, Patrick le Quement, says cars carry 1.4 people on average, yet two seats is seen as not enough. So Zoe has three plus a roomy boot.

A long wheelbase in relation to the car's overall length has been further optimised by pushing the wheels out as far as possible to maximise the cabin interior.

You climb in through a motorised passenger door which can open in several stages according to whether you want to access only the front or the rear seat as well.

And when the door opens, the glazed roof section opens with it to improve headroom as you clamber aboard.

The interior is as flexible as three seats can be. A starfish-switch by the driver's seat lets you reset the cabin's interior arrangements.

Passengers aren't forgotten. The back seat is more like an armchair and even has a footrest fitted to the seat in front.

Luggage can sit beside the rear passenger, or the seat can be folded for extra load space.

This thing is not big enough to need V8 power. There's a compact 1.2-litre turbo under the bonnet, its 73kW and 145Nm put to the wheels with a five-speed gearbox, making Zoe a racy little number round town.

Not quirky enough for you? The speedo is suspended on a transparent plaque.

A pass system lets you modify music and other car settings once you have inserted your pass card.

And the glass roof panels are inlaid with LEDs to resemble a starry sky when driving at night.