Bigger new Renault Koleos due early next year

A bigger, more distinctive replacement for Renault's mid-size Koleos SUV will be launched globally early next year, according to the French car-maker's design chief Laurens Van den Acker.

The Nissan X-TRAIL based Koleos has not made much more than a ripple after seven years on the Australian market.

Apart from being out of the frame for many Australian SUV shoppers, the Renault-Nissan alliance SUV has suffered from a certain anonymity related as much as anything else to its bland looks.

This may change in 2016 when Renault unveils a new flagship SUV that will sit, according to Renault, in a more clearly defined position in its segment.

In a recent interview with the Indian website IndianAutosBlog, Van den Acker was quoted as saying: “I think one of the issues of the Koleos is that it’s in between segments – it’s bigger than a C [segment SUV] but smaller than a D.”

However, according to Van den Acker, with its basis being the latest Renault-Nissan Common Module Family (CMF) platform, the new Renault SUV will be a “true D segment crossover" that is also "much more serious, much more high-end and much more sophisticated.”

As we've reported, the Koleos replacement will be about five metres long (the current Koleos measures 4.52 metres) and offer seven seats for the first time, to position it above the newly revealed Kadjar, which won't be sold in Australia.

Questions about the possibility of a three-row Koleos successor were left unanswered by Van den Acker. Renault already has the seven-seat market well covered with the likes of the Espace and Scenic people-movers, but those models are not sold in Asia.

Hence, while the 4.45-metre Kadjar (pictured) will compete with the likes of Mazda's CX-5, Toyota's RAV4 and Nissan's QASHQAI, Renault's new flagship SUV will be a rival for larger mid-sizer SUVs like the X-TRAIL, Mitsubishi Outlander and upcoming seven-seat medium SUVs from Mazda and Honda.

The next Koleos, beneath which the small Captur crossover will continue to be positioned within the Renault Australia range, is expected to be powered by a range of petrol and diesel engines from the X-TRAIL, as well as manual and CVT transmissions, and 2WD or 4WD driveline options.