By: IOL Motoring Staff
Saint-Denis, Paris - This, says Renault, is its first C-segment crossover, the Kadjar, positioned as a 'big brother' to the Captur and, it hopes, as a rival to Nissan's Qashqai.
“Our range has been enriched with a masterpiece,” said Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn as the car was unveiled to reporters in Saint-Denis on Monday.
It's built on a shared Renault/Nissan platform, part of the Common Module Family - in this case the CMF C/D platform (with specialised input from Renault on the transmissions and rear suspension), which is already in production for three other Nissan and Renault models.
At 4450mm long, 1840mm wide and only 1600mm high, it's actually a little larger than the Qashqai, but smaller than Renault's own Koleos.
The Kadjar will be offered in 4x2 and 4x4 versions, with 190mm of ground clearance and a choice of three drive modes - Auto, Lock and 2WD - to give it some credible off-road capability. Front and rear bash plates protect the underbody, while a stainless-steel boot sill protects against dirt and scratches.
It runs on up to 19-inch rims (depending on the version) and standard kit includes LED headlights with C-shaped LED light guides for the daytime running lights, body-coloured door handles and mirror housings, aluminium roof rails, and a fixed 1.4 square metre glass sun-roof.
VERSATILITY THE NAME OF THE GAME
Under the sun-roof the cabin boasts double rows of contrast stitching on the seats, door handles and instrument binnacle. A seven-inch capacitive colour touch-screen with voice recognition accesses a customisable R-Link 2 home page for navigation, hands-free parking, a reversing camera, telephony, apps and the audio system.
Crossovers are all about versatility; handles in the luggage compartment automatically unlock and fold the 60:40 split rear seats, while two different floor configurations allow a choice of either a completely flat floor for bulky items, or a 'low' floor to provide 472 litres of cargo capacity - with the rear seats still in place.
Renault's commercial director Jerome Stoll said: “Crossovers represent almost one in every five cars sold in the world today; in Europe we are already up to nearly one in four and in China, between one in four and one in three.”
He gave no specifications of engines or transmissions; full details, he said, would be released at the Kadjar's official world premiere at the Geneva motor show in the first week of March.
The Kadjar will be produced for Europe at Renault's Palencia factory in Spain, but it will also be the first Renault to be assembled in China, starting in 2016 at a new plant in Wuhan, being built as a joint venture by Renault and the Dongfeng Group.
It'll go on sale in Europe from mid-2015, in Africa and China from the fourth quarter of the year - and it's 'up for consideration' for release in South Africa in the first quarter of 2016.
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