2012 Renault Koleos breaks cover

Renault's Koleos SUV arrives at the Frankfurt motor show with a new face and a more refined interior presentation.

Slated to arrive in Australia before late in 2011, the main action in the Koleos is at the front, where there is an all-new headlight arrangement and an updated, single-piece grille replaces the old Renault-signature twin-nostril layout. The result is a more confident, more robust and decidedly more SUV look.

Renault has done some work inside too, all aimed at lifting quality perceptions with classier materials and trim, as well as a revised centre console layout.
 
New side mirrors with indicator lights make an appearance, while the rear end - with its two-part tailgate incorporating a drop-down lower section - is essentially unchanged.

The Nissan X-Trail based lifestyle Renault was introduced to the Australian market in September 2008 and offers the choice of front wheel drive or all wheel drive, as well as 110kW 2.0-litre dCi turbodiesel or 126kW 2.5-litre petrol four-cylinder engines.

There are three transmissions too: a six-speed manual, a six-speed auto and a CVT that is available only with the petrol engine.

Only a minor player in the highly competitive compact SUV segment in Australia, Koleos has accounted for 409 year-to-date sales this year compared to 557 for the same period last year.

The strongest seller for the segment this year is Subaru's Forester, which has claimed 8,863 sales so far – although it is down on the 10,126 sales recorded in the same period last year.

The Forester is being hounded by Nissan's X-Trail, Hyundai's ix35 and Toyota's RAV4. Of the European brands, Volkswagen is strongest with year-to-date sales of its Tiguan sitting at 3,943 vehicles. French rival Peugeot has sold 267 of its Mitsubishi Outlander-derived 4007 SUVs so far this year.

The five-star EuroNCAP Koleos is built at Renault's Busan plant in South Korea.

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