By Jon Quirk
11 December 2007
The Renault Koleos is the French car-maker's first venture into building a medium-sized 4x4 crossover vehicle and these are the first production-ready pictures.
Some eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that the car pictured here is in fact a Samsung QM5, but don’t worry. Styling for the Koleos was penned at the Samsung design studio in Korea, in conjunction with Renault design. As a result of this partnership, the Renault Koleos is being re-badged as a Samsung to go on sale in Korea. Only wheels and badgework will be different from the Renault.
Due to be released in the UK next summer, the Koleos doesn’t look much different from the concept car shown at the 2006 Paris Motor Show. The LED headlamps are gone but the useful split tailgate has been kept.
Engines available from launch will include a 2.0-litre DCi diesel and it will be competitively priced to go head to head with Honda's CR-V, the Volkswagen Tiguan as well as the Mitsubishi Outlander-based Citroen C-Crosser and Peugeot 4007.
