Renault pulled out all the stops for this year's Geneva Motor Show, taking the wraps off the swoopy Megane Coupe concept, as well as debuting the Twingo Renaultsport, Laguna GT and this, the Koleos crossover. Although closely based on mechanicals borrowed from sister-company Nissan, the Koleos is far more of a complete project than that other pair of French sport-utes from archrival PSA Peugeot-Citroen.
The Koleos shared center stage with the Megane Coupe this week, outlining how important the new model is to Renault. This is its first proper foray into the sport-ute segment, finally surrendering when the French automaker realized the crossover craze would not be subsiding any time soon. When you can't beat 'em, join 'em, the saying goes, but push come to snooty shove, Renault actually appears to have done a decent job.
The French don't have much history with sport-utes. So when PSA wanted to make an SUV, it turned to Mitsubishi, which rebadged its Outlander to make the Peugeot 4007 and Citroen C-Crosser. Now Renault wants a part of the action too, but fortunately has its own Japanese partner in Nissan with plenty of experience in the truck and crossover market. And so comes the production Koleos, details of which Renault has released ahead of its debut at the upcoming Geneva show next month, based on the concept from Paris 2006.
Underneath its skin you'll find a lot of Nissan Xtrail, with which the Renault Koleos shares its platform, suspension and a range of engines including a pair of 2-liter dCi diesels and a 2.5-liter gasoline four. The all-wheel-drive system channels 100% of the power to drive the front wheels under normal conditions, diverting as much as 50% to the rear when needed. The interior is stylish and packed full of convenience features. The Koleos will be built in a joint venture with Samsung in Korea, where the crossover is already on sale as the QM5.
