Renault ready for product attack in 2025 led by the new Duster

After keeping a relatively low profile for much of 2024, Renault South Africa officially detailed its 2025 product plans at a special media conference in the Magaliesberg on Friday.

Why the ‘silence?’

Renault South Africa vice-president of sales and marketing Zian van Heerde attributes the quiet 2024 to exchange rate challenges resulting from models being paid for in euros regardless of country of origin. the segments under €500,000, where it is reported that 75% of local consumers buy a car.

“As Renault we are an importer – we don’t export, we purely import and for us the biggest problem until before the (local) government elections was the exchange rate,” said Van Heerde.

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“Everything we buy is in euros and before the election (the exchange rate) was just under R20. Since then it has settled down to around R19, which is good for us.

“We can import all the nice things for €18.50 per euro, but above that it becomes difficult. And that was one of the main reasons why we had to make the difficult decision last year: “do we take Oroch with us, yes or no?”

Van Heerde admitted that both pre-production prototypes shown at last year’s Nampo Agricultural Expo in Bothaville in the Free State had since been destroyed, and said the Rand’s comparison with the euro at the time had left no choice but to roll out to set. first generation Duster-based Oroch indefinitely, as it would simply have been too expensive and not a viable product on the market.

Business is going up

Van Heerde, however, was positive about recent projections for the local auto sector, saying that while the Rand is prone to fluctuating, “there is no immediate threat to it, and our country is quite stable, which should be positive for us.”

“We have seen very good forecasts by certain economists of R18.05 against the euro by December next year, which will be very good for car imports into South Africa.”

A job well done

Elaborating further, Van Heerde said the brand’s current range of four products – Kwid, Triber, Kiger and Captur – will be significantly expanded from March next year as it aims to regain its position among the top five automotive brands. was demoted to sixth place by Chery.

“If you look at the top five best-selling brands, the average number of different offers hitting the sweet spot (in terms of volume) is nine. Underneath you will struggle.

“The disruptor here is Chery with three and all credit goes to them. But if you want to sell volume, you have to introduce more models,” he said.

“We will be looking above the R500,000 mark and while we do consistently well with Kwid, Triber and Kiger, we believe there is an opportunity to participate (in this part of the market).

New products

March: duster

Earlier this year, the brand was shown as Renault in certain European markets, after debuting last year under sister brand Dacia. The brand will begin its rollout in March with the debut of the much-delayed, all-new Duster.

Originally expected to go on sale in the last quarter of this year, the Duster will be part of Renault’s transition to electrification, in that it will be motivated by a 48-volt mild-hybrid powertrain instead of the much-loved , but now discontinued 1.5-liter turbodiesel.

Initially sourced from Dacia’s Mioveni plant in Romania, production will switch to India’s Chennai plant in the latter part of the year as part of a strategic move to bring the Bigster to South Africa in 2026 or 2027.

A move that will coincide with alliance partner Nissan’s upcoming debut of its two models built in the same factory and based on the Duster and Bigster. The South African Duster will again be offered with front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. The latter will once again be offered exclusively with a six-speed manual gearbox.

The confirmation of the mild-hybrid powertrain, which was shown at the conference in a near-production version with all-wheel drive, pretty much points towards the expected engine: the 1.2-litre turbocharged TCe petrol producing 96 kW.

A no-no for now is the E-Tech Hybrid, which combines a naturally aspirated 1.6-litre petrol with a 1.2 kWh battery pack for a total system power of 103 kW.

Larger is being investigated

At the other end of the spectrum, the Bigster, which rides on the same platform as the Duster, will only be offered with seven seats to justify the expected premium.

Although it is offered with five seats in Europe, the three-row layout for South Africa was deliberately chosen so as not to cannibalize sales of the Duster with only five seats.

As it stands, no details are known about the specifications, although Renault has admitted that it has already started discussions about a range structure for South Africa.

Question 2: Hello facelift Clio

In addition to the Duster, the second quarter of 2024 will see the debut of the Clio facelift, which was also shown to the public for the first time at the conference.

Unveiled in April last year, the updated model will initially come with an unchanged powertrain, consisting of a 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine mated to a five-speed manual gearbox.

Although spotted with an automatic gearbox that is not available in Europe with the engine in question, it is said that the price premium placed on the self-shifter could see it absent again in a similar scenario that prevents Renault from introducing all-wheel drive to make a car. Duster available with two pedals.

For now, the Clio’s exact specifications won’t be revealed until closer to its local launch date.

A party in the fourth quarter

More extensive: in the fourth quarter of the year, not only the Captur facelift will debut, but also the equally long-delayed Arkana in coupe style.

A model that would also have been launched in 2024, the delay will essentially allow Renault to bring to the local market the facelift model that debuted in Europe last year.

The Arkana, which was on display alongside the pre-facelift Captur Hybrid at Renault’s hybrid efficiency challenge at Zwartkops Raceway last year, will once again be offered exclusively as a hybrid, meaning the same electrified powerplant as the Captur, albeit with 105 kW.

To close the quarter, the Trafic van will be joined by the passenger variant aimed at the Hyundai Staria, Volkswagen Transporter and the new Ford Tourneo, while at the same time the Kiger and Triber facelift will make their premieres in response to their world show in India in April.

After 2025

Beyond 2025, the Kadjar’s long-awaited replacement will finally debut in 2026 in the form of the Symbioz, while the Koleos’ successor, the Chinese-made Grand Koleos, remains a no-no for now as production remains left-handed. -driving alone affair.

However, Renault South Africa announced that feasibility studies into production with the right-hand steering system had been initiated and that it has already expressed interest in offering it locally after the conversion.

At the other end of the scale, neither the latest electric products, the revived 4 and 5, will become available due to charging network challenges and a lack of government incentives to promote electric vehicles.

Asked about the likely price of the 5, Van Heerde said bringing it to market in the desired specifications would cost a price tag of more than R1 million – a move he called pointless from a financial point of view.

No Oroch replacement

Also ruled out, despite being of great importance, the Oroch’s successor, the Niagara, will remain tailor-made for Latin America for the time being, where it will debut in 2026.

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