Renault Koleos will continue unchanged until 2025

After confirming that the Megane E-Tech will go on sale in the fourth quarter of this year, Renault Australia general manager, Glen Sealey, promised that the Koleos medium SUV will stick around in its current form.

“[Koleos] continues as is for the moment. We know production will run through this year, through next year. And after that, we don't know”, Sealey said.

Renault has not yet announced plans for a Koleos follow-up, but Sealey re-iterated that the brand isn’t abandoning combustion-engined cars just yet.

“If you look at what Renault has done, [it’s] separated the company into a number of pillars, one is ‘Power’. That’s the nickname for development of internal-combustion engines…  the fact Renault is still investing in internal-combustion engine shows that [it] has an international focus beyond Europe”, said Sealey.

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Key developing markets outside of Europe are still demanding large volumes of petrol- and diesel-powered cars, including those in South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

It would be easy for Renault to lean on its Alliance siblings, both of which have very successful (and electrified) medium SUVs already in the form of the Nissan X-Trail and Mitsubishi Outlander.

After all, the Austral small SUV shares its CMF-C platform with the new Nissan Qashqai. But Sealey said a simple X-Trail twin may not be the answer for the next Koleos. Intriguing – all will be revealed in time. 

Sealey was also keen to point out that, if a Koleos replacement does come along in 2025, it will be of great interest to Australia.

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The Koleos is Renault’s best-selling vehicle here, recording 2552 sales in 2022, and racking up a further 320 so far in 2023, accounting for two per cent of medium SUV sales.

The current car hit Australian dealers in 2018 and is in its second generation. It’s powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and uses a continuously variable transmission. Renault offers three trim levels, with pricing from $37,000-47,700 before on-road costs.