Renault's newbie unnamed

Renault says the new range would form the foundation of solid growth in Australia in the next five years. Heading the list is a compact all-wheel drive.

Yet to be named, the vehicle is based on the Koleos concept and is expected to go on sale here late next year.

“Koleos will take Renault Australia into a very exciting market segment,” Renault Australia managing director Rudi Koenig said.

“The Koleos concept boasts a new four-wheel drive chassis and an excellent 2.0 dCi engine, both developed as part of the Renault-Nissan alliance."

“It's a crossover vehicle that is in its element in any conditions and is sure to deliver what the road surface."

“The model line-up is still being finalised, but we're looking very closely at the diesel and petrol options.”

While Renault is the world's fourth largest producer of motor vehicles, in Australia it remains a niche player, particularly with passenger vehicles.

It does, however, have a strong commercial presence with small, large and medium vans, Kangoo, Trafic and Master.

The company is going through a transition stage from being a French car manufacturer, to global producer on the back of a partnership with Nissan, which it owns, and South Korean company, Samsung, in which it has a major shareholding. “Our growth will come through new markets and new products,” said Mr Koenig.

Leading the charge will be the introduction next year, or early 2009, of the Korean-built compact sports utility vehicle, based on the Koleos concept seen at the Paris Motor Show last year, was confirmed in full production guise at Frankfurt.

“The Koleos concept show car foreshadows the shape of crossovers to come in the Renault line-up,” said Mr Koenig.

“Styled by Renault designers working in collaboration with the Renault Samsung Motors Design Centre in Korea, it combines the high stance and features of a sports utility vehicle with the roominess and stowage solutions of a people mover and the comfort and sporty feel of a modern saloon car,” he said.

With Renault Australia having a 91 per cent growth in diesel-powered vehicles this year, the Koleos concept sports a four-cylinder, two-litre, 16-valve, common rail injection turbo diesel engine.

Power is put to ground via a six-speed manual transmission, or an auto, and 19-inch wheels.

Main competitors to the Renault are likely to be Japanese veterans the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V.

Standard features include anti-skid brakes, emergency brake assist and electronic stability control. The central part of the dashboard houses navigation and multi-media applications and off-the-beaten-track information like altitude, air pressure, navigation bearings and hill gradients.

The Concept has four adult seats and a variety of stowage compartments. Renault also revealed a Laguna Coupe concept, Kangoo Compact concept, a new Clio Sport tourer and new Kangoo van. In addition to new body shapes, it also displayed a new, low-noise, three-litre V6 diesel concept engine for high-end cars such as Laguna.

This engine delivers sizeable punch with 195kW of power and 550Nm of torque at 1750rpm and is linked to a six-speed automatic flickshift transmission.

It was designed to be serviced every two years, or 30,000km.