Category: Renault

The French carmaker will likely sign its partnership agreement with AvtoVaz in the next few weeks and will then become the third largest car group in the world.

The alliance initiated by Renault will include Nissan , Dacia, Samsung and AvtoVaz and will build 7 million vehicles per year, overtaking Ford and sitting behind GM and Toyota.

Carlos Ghosn said: “The bigger you are, the more you can invest and the more you can utilise in terms of common vehicle platforms, engines and transmissions, as well as production facilities and purchasing power, all of which makes you more efficient.”

Renault’s strategy to take a share in other car makers instead of buying the whole business has proved successful in the last ten years. The French car maker grew from a vulnerable position to one of the biggest car maker in the world.

Source: Just Auto (registration required)

Four months after its launch, Renault has decided to decrease the saloon’s production as it doesn’t meet a huge demand.

Even if the company’s executives try to convince us the success is measured all along its lifecycle, this is not perceived as a good sign to slow down the production of the Laguna. Indeed, the French saloon has been labelled as Ghosn’s car.

The poor sales are the result of the poor sales recored by the M2 segment on which the Laguna competes. But the tame design might also explain the poor success met by the Laguna. The situation won’t get better as Citroen C5’s sales start soon and Honda has unveiled the new Accord model.

According to the Russian business newspaper Vedomosti, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan and Renault, and four other Renault managers will likely seat on AvtoVaz board.

“The ideology is — all board and management positions which have to do with technology and cost cutting will be granted to representatives of Renault, “ a source told the newspaper. Renault will take a 25% stake in the Russian car maker this year. Renault wants AvtoVAz to build the Logan and Megane intended to be sold on the Russian market.

Carlos Ghosn hopes to get a large pie of the Russian market which will become according to him the most important auto market in Europe within the next two years.

Source: Reuters

Renault has unveiled the official pictures of its first ever SUV, the Koleos. The new SUV is similar to the eponym concept car showed at the 2006 Paris Motor Show. The Koleos will go on sale from June.

If you read this blog, you will remember that the Koleos looks like the Samsung QM5 unveiled in last November. Built in the same plant, in South Korea, the Koleos has been designed by Renault but engineered by Nissan. Nissan has an acclaimed expertise in building SUVs and the Koleos share its underpinnings with the X-Trail model. Both vehicles will offer similar powertrains; however, Renault will likely offer a larger range.

The exterior styling is, of course, similar to Samsung’s, but the Koleos sports the corporate grille. Surprisingly, at a time when new Renault models adopt a plain surface grille, the Koleos features the old design that appeared with the previous-generation Laguna. At 4.52m long and 1.85m wide, the Koleos will be roomy enough for five passengers.

Koleos is the first Renault model to feature four-wheel drive from launch. The torque split between the front and rear is automatically calculated as a function of available grip. In normal conditions, torque is delivered to the front wheels only. Should less grip become available, up to 50 per cent of torque is transferred to the rear. This front-rear split is ensured by an electronic coupler and controlled by the latest-generation ‘All mode 4×4-I’ system developed by Nissan for the X-Trail.

The Koleos sits on a MacPherson-type suspension at the front and the fully-independent multilink rear suspension seen on New X-Trail. Ground clearance of 206mm (diesel version: 188mm) and approach and departure angles of 27 and 31 degrees respectively will help the Koleos to go into the mud. But don’t be fooled. Unlike the X-Trail, the Koleos will likely be road-biased.

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 disel unit in a choice of two power outputs, 148bhp or 170bhp. The petrol engine and the least powerful diesel can be associated with either a two-wheel drive system or a four-wheel drive transmission. The most powerful diesel will only be available with the four-wheel drive transmission.

All engines are hooked up to a six-speed gearbox either manual or automatic,except the petrol engine which is hooked up to a CVT gearbox.

Renault product planning Chief Patrick Pelata has confirmed that the company’s engineers were working on a dual clutch gearbox.

In an interview with Automotive News, Patrick Pelata said “They are on their way and we will not come too late,” but didn’t give any launch date. Secrecy, of course, surrounds the spec of the future gearbox. Will Renault engineers take inspiration from the Japanese colleagues who developed the dual clutch gearbox of the GT-R. A dual clutch gearbox would be an appealing technology for the future Laguna coupé which will be launched this year. The V6 petrol and diesel engines would be an ideal partner.

The dual clutch gearbox would also benefit the other smaller models in order to decrease the company’s fleet average CO2 emissions. It would allow the carmaker to move upmarket in term of engines without compromising one of the lowest score on the European market.

The car you see here is Renault’s serious attempt to spice up the Twingo model which looks a little tame compared to the iconic Fiat 500.

Set to compete with the future eagerly-awaited 500 Abarth and the Suzuki Swift Sport, the Twingo RS is powered by a 1.6-litre petrol engine which has an output of 133bhp. This is 33bhp more than the turbocharged 1.2-litre of the GT version. Unfortunately for Renault, the figures might not be enough to fight with the iconic Italian as it is believed that the 500 Abarth will offer 155bhp.

On the outside, the Twingo RS features extended front and rear wings, a rear spoiler and a lower front bumper. The interior styling will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. One does hope that Renault has spice it up enough to compete with the future sporty 500.

Also read: Spyshots: Renault Twingo RS

The current Renault Twingo range is topped by the GT version which is powered by a 99bhp 1.2-litr petrol engine, but Renault engineers are working hard to finish the future RS version set to compete with the Fiat 500 Abarth and the Suzuki Swift Sport. The car has been spotted in Italy.

Like the small Fiat, the Twingo RS version will feature enlarged wheel arches and adopt 17’wheels in an attempt to make the model more appealing to look at. Renault hopes these changes will be enough to fight with the eagerly-awaited Fiat Abarth.

The power will come from a 1.6-litre petrol engine associated with a five-speed manual gearbox. Secrecy surrounds the exact spec of the small car although it is rumoured that the engine will pump out roughly 140bhp. It would be 15 bhp less than the future Fiat 500 Abarth, but 15bhp more than the Suzuki Swift Sport. With a weight limited to 1050kg, the Twingo RS will be lighter than the two other cars and will offer a weight/power ratio similar to the former Clio 16s’ sold in the ’90s.

This is good news for Renault but with the Fiat 500 as a competitor, the Twingo appears to be too serious, almost dull, and while the RS promises to be sexier than the normal version, the Fiat Abarth has already appeared to be ten times more appealing to look at. The die is cast.

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