Renault will reportedly introduce a three-row Kadjar in Europe to replace the Koleos, though it’s unclear whether this will be offered elsewhere.

    Motor.es reports the Koleos will end production in 2023.

    The longer, three-row Kadjar variant will reportedly replace it; the new two-row Kadjar is set to be unveiled in 2022 and will use the redesigned Nissan Qashqai’s latest CMF-C architecture.

    That’ll give Renault direct counterparts to the Peugeot 3008 and 5008, and also potentially an indirect replacement for the Scenic and Espace MPVs that are rumoured to be on the chopping block.

    Motor.es suggests the new SUV could even wear the Koleos name, which has always been used on a large MPV. The current Espace, however, wears more overtly crossover-like styling than its predecessors.

    The new seven-seater will enter production alongside the next Kadjar at Renault’s Palencia factory in Spain and will reportedly share a new turbocharged 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine, available with mild-hybrid, hybrid and plug-in hybrid configurations.

    Outputs will reportedly range from 104kW to 171kW.

    The Koleos was recently discontinued in Europe, though it continues to be sold in markets like Australia, Argentina and South Korea.

    The latter country is where the second-generation model has been produced for export; there, it’s sold as the Renault Samsung QM6.

    It slots above the Arkana, sold there as the XM3, which is exported to markets like Australia and western Europe.

    While the current Koleos shares its underpinnings and powertrain with the Nissan X-Trail, it doesn’t offer that model’s available third row of seating.

    The Koleos received a minor update for 2021, though while it gained dynamic indicators and LED reversing lights, it missed out on the new grille offered on the Korean-market Samsung.

    LED headlights with automatic high-beam were made standard across the range, while the flagship Intens gained Nappa leather upholstery, memory and massaging functions for the driver’s seat and, in the all-wheel drive model, hill descent control.

    It currently sits atop a three-model Renault SUV range, which also consists of the small Captur crossover and its slightly larger Arkana coupe crossover platform-mate.

    The latter effectively replaced the Kadjar in Australia, which was discontinued after just over 12 months on sale.

    Though it’s considerably more popular in Europe, Renault sold just 132 Kadjars in 2019 and 500 in its first (and only) full year on sale.

    Related to the Nissan Qashqai, the Kadjar was imported from Europe. The Arkana, in contrast, is sourced from the same Busan, South Korea plant as the Koleos.

    It’s unclear if Renault would source a three-row Kadjar from Europe given the slow sales of the old Kadjar, and it appears unlikely Renault would produce the new model in both European and South Korean plants.

    With 1330 sales year-to-date, the current Koleos has just a 1.0 per cent share of the mid-sized SUV segment.

    It’s had as much as a 1.9 per cent share of the segment, with 2017 being the best year for the second-generation model with 3120 sales.

    Currently, it’s outselling only lower-volume mid-sized SUVs like the Ford Escape (1244), Peugeot 3008 and 5008 (997 and 157), Jeep Cherokee (349), SsangYong Korando (293), and Citroen C5 Aircross (36).

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    William Stopford

    William Stopford is an automotive journalist based in Brisbane, Australia. William is a Business/Journalism graduate from the Queensland University of Technology who loves to travel, briefly lived in the US, and has a particular interest in the American car industry.

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