Renault Australia doesn’t yet have a replacement for the long-running Koleos mid-size SUV on offer, but a new Korean teaser could provide some clues as to what’s next.
The company’s chief executive, Glen Sealey, told the media earlier this year that the Toyota RAV4 and Mitsubishi Outlander rival Koleos have a “fantastic future”.
“Koleos is one of those vehicles that has stood the test of time,” Mr Sealey said. “We see that it still has a future. We’ll certainly have it for the rest of this year, and we’ll certainly have it next year too.”
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Current Renault Koleos -
Over and beyond? The Austral SUV has been ruled out for Australia while the new Scenic is being investigated for our market.
Given that our current Arkana and Koleos are both manufactured by Renault-Samsung in South Korea, it’s logical to assume that a replacement could come from the same source.
This is where the car touted by Renault Korea comes into play. It’s an SUV with a striking resemblance to the Geely Xingyue L, apart from what looks like a unique grille.
The Xingyue L is 4770 mm long, 1895 mm wide and 1689 mm high. Right-hand drive production has not been specified, nor have Geely or Renault confirmed that the car will be built to Australian design rules.
Its dimensions make it 98mm longer, 52mm wider and 11mm taller than the current Koleos – or 60mm longer than the Mitsubishi Outlander, which is one of the biggest newcomers to the crowded world of mid-size SUVs.
Under the hood, the Geely shares its CMA platform and a number of its engines with vehicles from the Volvo world. Hybrid and plug-in hybrid drives are offered in China.
Geely acquired a 34 percent stake in Renault Korea in 2022, and shortly afterwards Renault Korea introduced a new hybrid coupe crossover.
It will be one of several CMA-based electrified vehicles scheduled to hit the market by 2027.
A joint venture between Renault and Geely, also announced in 2022, will see the two companies also operate 17 drive factories on three continents with a total of 19,000 employees.
The two automakers estimate that their joint venture, with their combined product portfolio and regional presence, could provide solutions for 80 percent of the global internal combustion engine market.
The new company will have a total production capacity of over five million combustion, hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains and transmissions per year.
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