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Some will remember the previous Renault Koleos, a mid-sized, softly styled disaster of an SUV that was launched in 2008 and quietly discontinued not long after. Forget that car, as the 2017 Koleos is aimed at a different segment entirely. It will sit above the current Kadjar in the line-up and in the same way that crossover is based on the underpinnings of the Nissan Qashqai, the Koleos will plunder the Nissan X-Trail parts bin for its mechanicals. That positioning should mean it's the range-topping Renault here in Ireland, bringing the French company into the premium SUV market, a space it has never occupied before.
What will its rivals be?
Clearly the Nissan X-Trail will be the Renault's most obvious competitor as they'll share engines and plenty more, so it'll be interesting to see how the new car is priced. The X-Trail, for reference, starts at €32,150 and rises to €43,750. There are plenty of alternatives in that price bracket, including the Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento and Land Rover Discovery Sport at the top end and the underrated Mitsubishi Outlander, all with seven-seat options. The Koleos looks as though it may only have five seats, however, which means it could compete with models such as the Ford Kuga, Subaru Forester and Honda CR-V.
Any tech info?
As it's still a while away before the Koleos arrives in Ireland, we don't know what equipment will be standard, but going on recent Renault form we'd expect quite a bit to be thrown in for the price. When Renault unveiled the Koleos to the world at the Beijing International Automobile Exhibition in China earlier this year it talked about on-board connectivity and advanced driver assistance systems. For the former there'll be R-Link 2, a touchscreen based infotainment system that can come with an upright screen for accessing the BOSE audio, satnav, Bluetooth, etc. In terms of safety, expect to see availability of lane departure warning, safe distance warning, traffic sign recognition with excess speed warning, blind spot warning, tiredness detection, etc.
What will the range be like?
Again, Renault Ireland has yet to confirm what will be offered here, but we can take an educated guess by looking at the Nissan X-Trail. The sole engine offered in that car is the relatively new 1.6-litre dCi diesel unit producing 130hp. Manual and CVT automatic transmissions are available and there are front- and four-wheel drive versions too. We expect trim levels to roughly follow the rest of the Renault range for the Koleos, but with a bias towards the top end, so Dynamique Nav, Dynamique S Nav and perhaps Signature Nav.
Expectations?
If Renault retains the five-seat layout for the Koleos that's offered to other markets, then it will be severely reducing its chances of success here in Ireland. Sure, there are some that won't need the extra seating, but there are plenty more that will choose a car with them for occasional use. Nonetheless, the Koleos looks great and we expect it to be particularly well-equipped too.
