Let’s see how they manoeuvre around pricing.
It seems that French automaker Renault’s local office has noticed that it absolutely has to address a glaring gap in its SUV lineup, namely the enormous trench between the compact Captur and the much larger Koleos. As such, the company is looking to field its well-praised Kadjar to fill the gap, though there are more than a few hurdles to get over before it can.
The Kadjar is set for a redesign for the 2019 model year, so the model we’re hoping to receive will most likely be the updated car. The Kadjar is very well regarded in Europe, as its shared underpinnings with the popular Nissan Qashqai means that as a proposition, it’s really just a better-looking version of an already good car. And given the growth of SUV sales in our market (if not the world), it would be foolish for Renault Australia to keep this car off the cards any longer.
But one of the biggest issues with the Kadjar is where it’s built: Where the Koleos is but in Korea, the Kadjar comes out of their plant in Palencia, Spain. Being built there means that it costs so much more than the Koleos to build that it’d have arrived in Australia carrying a dearer price tag than its bigger sibling.
The confirmation that the Kadjar is back up for consideration was made to CarAdvice by Renault Australia’s new managing director Andrew Moore, who took the reigns as top-boss in October last year after the departure of long-time MD Justin Hocevar a month earlier. The Kadjar’s arrival, if it does indeed make it here, would help push Renault back in the right direction, as the company enjoyed steadily growing sales up ‘till last year where it saw a small 3% dip.
At this point, all we can reasonably do is wait hopefully. The Kadjar should face stiff competition from the moment it lands. Not only is the Nissan Qashqai a pretty formidable force in our market, but there are contenders from other quarters to consider, like the very stylish Peugeot 3008, the dynamic Mazda CX-5, and the handsome Hyundai Tucson.
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