Renault Koleos 2,5 Dynamique CVT

Renault has been doing a roaring trade in the small budget cars segment of late ... How will the upmarket Koleos be received?

- By Nikesh Kooverjee, Sean Parker

• Price: R534 900
• 0-100 km/h: 9,76 seconds
• Top speed: 185 km/h
• Power: 126 kW
• Torque: 233 N.m
• CAR fuel index: 9,72 L/100 km
• CO2: 188 g/km

Renault has been riding the local small-car wave with its budget-friendly Kwid, Kiger, and the always-impressive Duster SUV.

The desire for smaller, fuel-efficient cars has seen the public shift its focus away from large, expensive SUVs towards compact crossovers. This is why models such as the Ford EcoSport, Toyota Urban Cruiser, Suzuki S-Presso, Renault Kiger, Nissan Magnite Volkswagen T-Cross, Kia Sonet, and Hyundai Venue occupy several spots on the list of top 20 best-selling cars.

Owing to this tsunami of smaller cars, there will always be casualties in other segments and the Renault Koleos is a perfect example. In 2019, Renault SA made a bold move to drop its excellent Kadjar SUV in favor of the larger Koleos; it was cheaper to import the Koleos from South Korea than the Kadjar from France. While the Kadjar shared its underpinnings with the Nissan Qashqai, the Koleos shares its architecture with another Nissan product, the X-Trail. We spent our customary fortnight with the updated model that has been on the cards for local introduction as far back as June 2020.