SPY PICS: Seven-seat Renault to replace Koleos

The pictures here may ring a bell. While they were clearly shot in the snow – and apparently above the Arctic Circle – they show the same Renault SUV caught testing in warmer climes back in September of last year.

At the time, no one outside Renault knew that this larger-than-Koleos SUV is to be called the Renault Maxthon when it begins reaching global markets starting from 2017. Word that the new model would be called Maxthon leaked out of China, where the vehicle is being developed.

In Europe, where the Koleos is reportedly a sales disaster, it's expected the current five-seat model will be dropped – making the even larger, seven-seat Maxthon all the less likely to get a game there.

But contrary to expectations, it will go on sale in Europe, and the new model is coming to Australia as well. Logic dictates the Maxthon for Australia will be built in the Samsung plant in South Korea, enabling the importer here to bring the SUV in at a lower landed cost, thanks in part to the free-trade agreement that exists between South Korea and Australia.

The Maxthon will measure around 4.7 metres in length and some of its architecture and underpinnings will be likely shared with the X-TRAIL, just as the Koleos does currently.