Category: Renault

Despite showing its commitment to India, the French carmaker wants to have a factory in China, but failed to find a valuable partner until now.

Renault has announced it will invest £63 million in an old joint venture in China to build a new generation of minivans destined for the Chinese market. The news isn’t what we expected from the French carmaker, but if Renault has shown good progress in India, Chinese market is another matter. After looking for relaible partners, the company has decided to bring back from death a joint venture made with the Sanjiang Space Industry Group.

Signed in 1994, the joint venture produced the Traffic model for the local market until 2002 when Renault decided to cease the production as a result of poor sales and poor components quality. The new generation of minivans is codenamed W72.

Source: Chinacartimes

Here the spyhots of the next-generation Megane without camouflage which will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show according to the latest information.

The Megane is presented under two variants, the five-door hatchback and the three-door version. As predicted, both cars offer a differentiated design. After those versions, Renault will unveil the next-generation Scenic at Geneva next year.

Click here to see the pictures

Renault CEO confirmed at the shareholder general assembly that emerging markets were a priority and that Renault was putting its efforts on the future £1,200 car.

Renault expects growth to come from emerging market such as Russia, Brazil and India which are enjoying double digit growth. "The growth of the automobile market will come via emerging countries," Ghosn said, adding that the Renault would nonetheless continue to be active on "mature markets," even in a "defensive" capacity.

Ghosn also said that the carmaker will release the £1,200 car developed in collaboration with Bajaj in first half of 2011. India is a market where Renault wants to be a major player and plans to keep up with the carmakers already there by building a factory in Chennai.

The French carmaker has unveiled French market’s prices for the new Koleos which will be launched on June 12, 2008.

Renault Koleos will be available with three trim levels and three engines and priced between €24,900/£19,600 and €34,600/£27,200. The three trim levels are Expression, Dynamique and Privilege. The entry level powered by the same 2.5-litre petrol engine as the Nissan X-Trail will start at €24,900/£19,600. The diesel engine starts at €26,200/£20,600. The two entry versions don’t feature an all-wheel drive system.

The Expression trim level comes with ABS, six airbags, air conditioning, 17in alloy wheels and 140hp radio-cd player. The Dynamique level adds rear and front parking sensors, automatic lights, climate control, leathered steering wheel and gear stick knob. The Privilege adds a Bose sound system, leather upholstery, heated front seats and panoramic sunroofs.

The Koleos will be available with a choice of three engines, one petrol unit and two oil burners. The petrol engine, is the Nissan 2.5-litre TR25 which delivers 169bhp and torque of 167 lb ft. Along the petrol unit, Renault will offer one diesel unit in a choice of two power outputs, 148bhp or 170bhp.

Two future Renault models have been spotted during testing in Australia: Laguna Coupé and Mégane.

The Laguna coupé is expected to be launched at the Paris Motor Show. The coupé will be derived from the eponymous saloon, but Renault will try to be a bit more upmarket by adopting some visual glitches generally found on a coupé. Compared to the concept car seen at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, the production version will look like less appealing, but Renault hpes its engine renage will make the difference, especially the diesel engines. The carmaker is currently developing a new V6 diesel engine range which is expected to deliver 230bhp and 265bhp. The Renault Laguna coupé will be the first model to be equipped by the two powerful units.

Along with the Laguna Coupé, the Megane has also been shot. As seen on the previous spyshots, Renault has decided to offer a more subtle design and will drop the peculiar current model’s rear end. Despite featuring a heavy camouflage, the next-generation Megane’s side view seems to be similar to that of the Fiat Bravo.

In an interview with Autocar, Renault head of design, Patrick Le Quement reveals that the carmaker has two other SUVs in development.

After hesitating for ten years before launching its first SUV, Renault plans to boost its lineup by launching two more SUVs on the market in the near future. Renault will offer a larger model which will be company’s attempt to take on BMW X3 and Mercedes GLK and a smaller model intended to compete with models like Toyota Urban Cruiser, Land Rover LRX, and Audi Q3.

The Koleos’ big brother will be based on the Nissan Murano and be manufactured in the same factory located in South Korea. The SUVs are expected to arrive on the market within 24 months.

Renault has cut its Indian sales targets as growth was not as fast as expected. However the carmaker still plans to launch a budget car in India.

In an interview with the Mint newspaper, Renault India managing director Sylvain Bilaine said Renault had not “grown as fast as we expected. It’s a new brand, it’s a new car, it’s a new network.We are working both on pink (optimistic) and more black (pessimistic) in case the economy would really plummet."

The sales targets have been decreased due to the market slowdown on the compact car segment. Renault stays optimistic and is currently working with Bajaj Auto on the feasibility to make the £1,500 car intended to take on the Tata Nano. "We are on track on the costing, which is the most difficult. Now our engineers are working with what our product planners had summarised. It’s (taking) a bit longer than anticipated," the paper quoted his as saying.