Renault Koleos and 3-G Laguna to hit China market in late 2008

Shanghai, April 7 (Gasgoo.com) French car maker Renault is set to launch its third-generation model Laguna on the Chinese market in the second half of this year. The all-new Koleos, Renault's first SUV model, will also land in China at the end of 2008. Renault has listed India and Russia as its priority markets in Asia, and because the plan to make Renault vehicles in China will be temporarily suspended, the company’s cars for sale in China will be imported from elsewhere.

As the first SUV model carrying the Renault brand, Koleos is fashioned after the multi-purpose vehicle Renault Samsung QM5. The QM5 model, based on the Nissan Qashqai platform, is a new product jointly developed by Renault and Nissan at a cost of $600 million.

The earliest Koleos concept model made its debut in 2006, and the mass-production edition was unveiled in the Geneva auto show in March 2008. The mass-produced Koleos vehicles will hit the European markets in June at a price of 19,000 pounds, or RMB 270,000. According to industry sources, Koleos will be available in the Chinese market by the end of this year, but its exact price is unknown yet. 

The third-generation all-new Laguna is scheduled to appear at the upcoming 2008 Beijing auto show and will be reaching the Chinese market by April 10. The second-generation Laguna 2.0L sells for RMB 265,000 ($37,800) in China and the third-generation Laguna is likely to be priced above this price level but not beyond RMB 300,000.

The prospect of Laguna sales is not optimistic, because a Renault dealership in Beijing currently sells only about ten units of Laguna each month.