Renault Koleos will be a premium product in India

Sources in Renault India have told IAB that the Koleos SUV, expected during October, will not be priced below 20 lakh rupees. The company is looking to give India a category-breaker and market it as a premium vehicle  playing substitutes for the Honda CR-V and BMW X1.

Fitted with every possible electronic gadget and safety will be given uttermost importance, IAB is told that Renault will offer almost the same comfort and safety features Europe gets. The Koleos is powered by a high displacement diesel engine (2.0-liter) producing about 150PS. Renault might offer both transmissions (6-speed manual and automatic) at launch.

In another development, the Korean version of the Koleos, Renault Samsung QM5 was spotted testing in Korea wearing camouflage to hide its reworked nose. The QM5 is a popular choice in Korea, but that isn't the case in every market. The X-Trail based SUV was withdrawn from UK due to poor sales.

If the QM5 is going to be cosmetically overhauled, we can expect Renault to carry out a similar operation on the Koleos in the near future. Renault is now in the process of testing the car in India.

Renault India will assemble the Koleos at the Oragadam facility situated near Chennai. It plans to have 5 products in the next 15 months and 100 dealer outlets by December 2012. The Koleos will be joined by the V-Platform hatch, Duster and a sedan next year. Renault is following a top-down approach in India and hopes to be among the top 3 non-Indian auto manufacturers in India in the next couple of years.

Source - hankyung.com