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Renault’s seven-seater SUV
Jonathan Burn Jonat nat
Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk Jonath th @Jonathan_burn
RENAULT is on the crossover offensive. Following the unveiling of the brand’s new Nissan Qashqai rival, the Kadjar, bosses have announced that an even larger seven-seater designed to take on the X-Trail is currently under development. Expected to appear in 2017, the new Renault will also have to fend off the likes of the Hyundai Santa Fe and Skoda’s forthcoming SUV for sales (see panel, opposite). Our exclusive images show how the newcomer could look. Adopting the curvaceous lines and panels seen on the Kadjar and Captur, Renault’s design DNA is evident in the full-length headlamps and grille arrangement dominating the front end. Designed to sit above the Kadjar in the range, the yet-to-be-named large crossover is definitely on the way, but bosses were reluctant to spill the beans at this early stage. “It’s too early to say just yet,” said Jerome Stoll, executive vice president, chief performance officer at Renault. “The Kadjar is part of a renewal plan; we’re specialists in the multi-passenger vehicle – we invented it – and now we’re moving into the crossover.”
EXCLUSIVEIMAGES “Renault’s design DNA is evident in the fulllength headlamps and grille arrangement”
Attractive
Stoll continued: “I believe Renault for the past two years has been renewing the range with a number of products. We have much more attractive designs, and the new cars are now very successful.” As with the Kadjar, when it comes to developing the new crossover, Renault will take advantage of its alliance with Nissan. The recently introduced X-Trail is not only expected to be a main rival, but it’ll also provide a large portion of the newcomer’s mechanical underpinnings. The CMF platform produced by the RenaultNissan alliance already underpins a range of crossover models such as the Qashqai, Kadjar and X-Trail, and is expected to serve as a basis for Renault’s seven-seater, too. That means the 130bhp 1.6litre diesel offered in the X-Trail would fit nicely into place. As with its Japanese cousin, the seven-seat configuration is expected to be a cost option. Although the likely 2017 launch for the crossover is some time away, Renault has several new models in the pipeline that’ll keep it busy in the meantime. A hotter version of the quirky rear-engined Twingo city car is expected soon, along with a pick-up truck and a replacement for the Laguna saloon that will rival the Ford Mondeo and VW Passat.
10 Special Issue
Renault’s X-Tra
■ Exclusive images reveal new seven-seat crossover SUV to sit above Kadjar Seven-seater crossover set to use large portion of latest X-Trail’s underpinnings
“Seven-seater could adopt curvaceous lines and panels seen on new Kadjar (above)”
