Renault Reveals All-New Kadjar Crossover ahead of Geneva Debut

9 years, 10 months ago - 6 February 2015, Autoblog

Crossovers have become big business not only in the United States, but around the world: According to Renault, one in five vehicles sold last year worldwide was a crossover – and the share is even higher in markets like Europe (23 percent) and China (26 percent).

Little wonder, then, that the French automaker has been expanding its crossover offerings. It introduced the B-segment Captur just a couple of years ago, and now it's bolstering its lineup even further with the introduction of the new Kadjar.

Set to be unveiled in full at the Geneva Motor Show next month, the new Renault Kadjar is the company's first C-segment crossover – taking on the likes of the Mazda CX-5, Kia Sportage, Volkswagen Tiguan, Toyota RAV4 and Nissan Qashqai. It shares the latter's Common Module Family platform through the Renault-Nissan Alliance, along with the Rogue and X-Trail.

Technical specifications are still forthcoming, but Renault has already revealed that the Kadjar will be offered in both two- and four-wheel drive configurations. It'll also pack LED headlights and Renault's R-Link 2 infotainment system. And while the styling is clearly more car-like than truck, it still offers nearly seven and a half inches of ground clearance, lower body cladding and underbody protection for venturing off road.

The Kadjar will be manufactured for markets in Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean Basin at Renault's plant in Palencia, Spain, alongside the Mégane that's already built there. The crossover is also earmarked to be the company's first vehicle to be manufactured locally in China though a new joint venture with Dongfeng. Coupled with the increasing market share that crossovers of various shapes and sizes have been claiming around the world, the Chinese manufacturing initiative makes the Kadjar a vital new product for one of the world's largest automakers.