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Renault Laguna Coupe launched – 2.0T, 6sp auto, RM260k

May 7, 2010 at 1:04 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Renault

TC Euro Cars, official distributor of Renault cars in Malaysia, has launched the Laguna Coupe. This sleek D-segment coupe is an offshoot of the third-generation Laguna, which will not be brought in as there’s little demand here for large French saloons/hatchbacks at CBU from Europe prices.

With a coupe, some might be seduced, especially when the Laguna Coupe looks like a baby Aston from the rear three quarters. The proportions and profile are sleek as well, but I personally don’t dig the front end, which has one of the biggest grilles around, matched by equally large headlamps. It’s definately bold and arresting, though. In fact, there’s nothing like the Laguna Coupe in our market (big non premium badged Conti coupe); the Peugeot 407 Coupe is one rival that isn’t sold here.

This Renault powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing 170 bhp and 270 Nm of torque at 3,250 rpm, which is a bit higher than the latest direct injection turbo units. Paired to a six-speed automatic gearbox with manual mode, 0-100 km/h is done in 9.2 seconds and top speed is 220 km/h. Kerb weight is 1,480 kg.

Underpinned by the Renault-Nissan Alliance’s D platform, the Laguna Coupe’s suspension consists of MacPherson struts up front and a rear torsion beam. The steering is hydraulic while the disc brakes are ventilated up front. This car is a full four seater coupe – a big sized 6ft tall journo managed to fit in the rear quarters, as you can see in the gallery. The boot is a useful 423 litres with the seats up; they fold down easily via a conveniently located lever.

Equipment wise, the Laguna Coupe has all you need and more. Six airbags (5-star Euro NCAP), ABS, EBD, Brake Assist, ESP, auto handbrake, bi-xenons with washers, electric seats, climate control, cruise control, 10 speaker (inc one subwoofer) BOSE stereo with Bluetooth/USB/AUX, leather and 18-inch wheels are standard. For colours, choose between grey, silver and black for the outer skin and camel brown or black for the cabin.

The Laguna Coupe is priced at RM259,868.89 OTR excluding insurance; not cheap but not unexpected from a well specced French import. Warranty coverage is 3 years of 100,000 km inclusive of 24/7 breakdown assistance. Live images from the event and official pics after the jump.
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Future Indian Logan to use Mahindra badge

April 27, 2010 at 11:32 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, India, Mahindra, Renault

We recently posted that Renault and Mahindra & Mahindra’s rocky relationship in India has avoided divorce, and that the unsuccessful Logan will be given a second chance. That basic car, although well received in other markets, was expensive in India due to higher excise duty for cars longer than 4 metres and a relatively large engine compared to other bargain cars. It also looked rather drab and low cost as opposed to say, a Maruti Swift.

Well, the future arrangement is like this. The upcoming modified sub 4-metre version of the Logan will be manufactured, sold and badged in India as a Mahindra, which means no more Renault logos. The French company will receive royalty for each car sold and is said to be keen on purchasing the Logan from Mahindra to sell it in South Africa. According to Indian Autos Blog, the “new Logan” will surface 18 months from now. The same source adds that M&M is also looking to craft out a sub 4-metre SUV in 2012 from the Logan’s platform, possibly with a 1.5-litre three-cylinder diesel engine.

For the meantime, the company has slashed Logan prices to boost sales figures. Indian carbuyers will get savings of Rs 24,000 to Rs 80,000 (RM 1,700 – RM 5,700) depending on variant. Let’s hope the promotions don’t include throwing in these very inappropriate Renault Megane R26 R style graphics!

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Renault Laguna Coupe coming to Malaysia next month!

April 21, 2010 at 1:23 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Renault

Is white still the new black? Renault clearly thinks so, because it has launched a Monaco GP limited edition of the Laguna Coupe in that colour. To be exact, it’s in pearlescent white metallic with a contrasting “pearl black” roof. Strange name though, since the Renault F1 Team’s most recent win in Monte Carlo isn’t that recent – it was in 2006, courtesy of the Spanish guy now racing for Ferrari.

To match the roof, UK buyers get black 18-inch “Interlagos” alloys and folding door mirrors. Based on the GT and powered by the 2.0 dCi 180 FAP engine, the limited edition boasts four-wheel steering, dark grey leather upholstery with Monaco GP logos and gloss white inserts for the dash, centre console and door panels. Other features include Bluetooth, a Bose stereo, electric heated front seats, front and rear parking sensors, tyre pressure monitor and fully integrated Carminat TomTom sat nav.

Good news to those who appreciate the Laguna Coupe’s sleek lines – Malaysian Renault distributor TC Euro Cars will be introducing the car here (not the Monaco GP edition though), and we hear that the launch is planned for next month. A CBU car from France won’t be cheap, but a 2.0-litre petrol turbo engine paired to a six-speed auto should guarantee decent performance. Watch this space.

More images after the jump.
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Finalised Renault Fluence Z.E. unveiled, on sale next year

April 16, 2010 at 3:33 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Renault

Renault has unveiled the finalised designs of the Fluence and Kangoo Z.E. vehicles while announcing that those who wish to be among the first to drive them can pre-reserve their unit at www.renault-ze.com. Renault will contact these pioneering customers closer to the date of the vehicle’s release to obtain confirmation.

The Fluence Z.E. will be built in Turkey, on the same production line as the internal combustion engine-powered variants of the C-segment saloon. Production is due to begin in the first half of 2011. It will first go on sale in Denmark and Israel before reaching the rest of Europe from 2011. The Fluence Z.E. is powered by a synchronous electric motor with rotor coil. Peak power is 70kW at 11,000rpm, while maximum torque is 226 Nm.

The 22kW/h lithium-ion battery pack is located behind the rear seats, which explains the Z.E.’s rear heavy appearance (the electric Fluence is 4.75 m long, 13 cm longer than conventionally powered variants). The battery can be charged in between six and eight hours. At fast charge stations using a 32A 400V supply replenishes the battery in 30 minutes – this facility will be available from 2012. Range is 160 km and top speed is 135 km/h.

But what’s good EVs without the supporting infrastructure? As part of its zero emissions strategy, the Renault-Nissan Alliance is working actively with governments, administrative bodies, local authorities, energy providers and other partners. To date, it has signed more than 50 agreements across the world aimed at preparing markets and establishing the necessary infrastructure for the mass marketing of electric vehicles from 2011.

Renault estimates that electric vehicles will account for 10% of the world market by 2020. The Alliance is investing €4 billion in its zero emissions programme and a 2,000-strong team (1,000 at Renault and 1,000 at Nissan) is already working on electric vehicles

More pics after the jump.
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Renault-Nissan-Daimler cooperation sealed and explained!

April 8, 2010 at 8:49 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz, Nissan, Renault

Details of Renault-Nissan’s partnership with Daimler AG have been revealed. The tie-up involves a symbolic stake exchange of 3.1%, which is basically a series of stake exchanges. Daimler will get 3.1% of Renault’s newly issued shares, Daimler will get 3.1% of Nissan shares that Renault current holds, and Renault will get 3.1% of Daimler shares. Renault has agreed to exchange 1.55% of Daimler shares with Nissan for 2% of Nissan shares. Renault and Nissan will each hold 1.55% of Daimler treasury shares.

The press release issued by the two companies also details exactly what the companies will work together on:

  • The companies will work on the next generation smart fortwo and Renault Twingo platform and engines together and there will be EV versions. These cars will be launched sometime from 2013 onwards. Two seater versions will be made in smart’s plant in France while four-seater versions will be made in Renault’s plant in Slovenia.
  • As per above, Renault-Nissan will provide 3 cylinder and 4 cylinder small engines to Daimler, modified to suit Mercedes-Benz characteristics. Expect the next generation A-Class as well as the smarts to use Renault-Nissan engines..
  • Daimler will supply Nissan’s Infiniti luxury car division with gasoline and diesel inline-4 and V6 engines. This will allow Renault-Nissan to focus on small engine development which make up the bulk of their vehicles.
  • The Mercedes-Benz Vito will get a Renault-Nissan diesel engine and transmission. This could be the inline-4 and the V6 found in the Pathfinder/Navara.
  • The three companies will also collaborate on future petrol and diesel engine.
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Renault and Mahindra mend ties, Logan gets second chance

April 6, 2010 at 2:57 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, India, International News, Mahindra, Renault


The Dacia Logan was one of the earliest low cost cars designed specifically for developing markets such as Eastern Europe. Renault, who owns Romanian Dacia, found success with the Logan and even started sales in Western Europe, which wasn’t part of the project’s original goals. India was supposed to be the next frontier, projected to bring in massive volume (and profits) but it hasn’t worked out that way.

Renault partnered with Indian manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra to make and market the Logan, but dismal sales has resulted in production being slashed to 500 units per month, way below the projected 50,000 units per year. It seemed that they had underestimated Indian consumers, who weren’t impressed by the Logan’s basic looks and spec, but not so basic price. The JV started to lose money, and a strain started to develop between the partners. So when Renault recently decided to set up its own production and sales unit in India, everyone saw the writing on the wall for the partnership.

However, the latest news is that the two parties have avoided a divorce and will soon announce a new restructured plan. The Logan will be repositioned as a “small car” with overall length reduced to below 4 metres. This is to comply with India’s car size boundaries for the Logan to attract a lower excise of 10% (currently 22%). The petrol engine’s capacity will be brought down to 1.2 litres from the current 1,400-1,600cc. The 1.5-litre diesel will remain. All these tweaks will give the Logan a more competitive price. At present, the base Logan 1.4 GL costs 452,629 rupees, which is more expensive than a base Maruti Swift at below 400,000 rupees (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Should Proton enter the Indian market with the Saga, it will also face the same problem as the Logan, since the Saga’s overall length measures 4,257 mm. Of Proton’s current cars, only the Savvy and Satria Neo hatchbacks duck in below 4 metres.

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We battle with Renault F1 drivers on track!

April 1, 2010 at 2:53 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Local News, Motorsports, Renault


Every year, when the Formula 1 circus comes to town for the Malaysian GP, participating manufacturers will hold events to drum up publicity and reap the branding rewards from their major investment in the sport. No company joins F1 just for fun, everyone tries to win on Sunday then sell on Monday! But there are fewer events this year with the departure of BMW, Honda and Toyota. Renault could have joined them, but thankfully chose to stay in the sport by selling off a big stake to investors.

Which means another “meet the drivers” event to attend. But this invite was special, as the media got to race with the Renault F1 drivers at Sepang’s go-kart circuit! It was earlier this morning when Vitaly Petrov and third driver Ho-Pin Tung made the short drive from SIC to the kart track, got into their overalls and shared a track with yours truly and his counterparts. As expected, Robert Kubica wasn’t in sight as the No.1 driver normally gets exempted from media obligations such as this.


Divided into groups, we had a total of two timed laps for the qualifying session. I wasn’t expecting to do well as this is my first time on the reversed layout of this track, besides having limited experience of the two-stroke 100 cc karts used today (karting is expensive!). It turned out that they behaved much differently from the four-stroke “fun karts” commonly used in media events.

They’re much faster, of course, but instead of simply going full throttle and leaning on the available grip as one would in the slower fun karts, cornering depended greatly on throttle manipulation, and the kart simply won’t turn if you don’t have enough speed. They’re less forgiving too, which is why I spun more than once on the damp surface and didn’t make it to the top-ten shootout. Good fun nonetheless, and karting is the best way to develop race craft and understand balance.


Vitaly and Ho-Pin looked like they were having a good time too; the best of us journos couldn’t get near their exhaust smoke, which allowed them room to fool around a bit, nudging and tailing each other for fun. Petrov, Russia’s first F1 driver, has yet to finish a race so far, but will be hoping to do so this Sunday. He’s familar with Sepang after racing here in the GP2 Asia Series back in 2008. Last year saw the 26-year old finish second in GP2′s overall standings. Racing with us mere mortals doesn’t count as practise though!

Gallery after the jump!
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Renault and Daimler close to a stake swap tie-up?

March 26, 2010 at 9:04 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz, Renault

Renault Fluence

Word is that Daimler AG and Renault are very close to a German-French ‘alliance’ that includes a “symbolic” equity swap of 3%. Daimler AG would hold 3% of Renault and Renault will be taking up 3% of Daimler AG. The official word from the two companies confirm that they are in talks for some kind of collaboration, but declined to confirm that it would include an equity stake swap.

Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn said at the Geneva Motorshow earlier this year that the alliance could afford to buy stake in a third partner if needed. He did not mention who they are looking at specifically, instead just saying that the alliance was “talking to many people in the industry.” The Renault-Nissan alliance has been around for 11 years and it seems to be working for them well. Daimler’s tie-ups haven’t been particularly successful, they ‘divorced’ Chrysler not too long ago.

Renault Wind
Renault Wind – future smart roadster?

The partnership between Daimler and Renault will most probably revolve around sharing the development costs of compact front wheel drive platforms and engines. Mercedes-Benz needs to spread the development cost of its compact front wheel drive A-Class and B-Class vehicles as well as Smart cars. It was previously in talks with rivals BMW for the same but that collaboration went down the drain as both parties ended up feeling it was necessary to have competitive differentiation in that segment that would not be possible if they shared platforms and engines.

BMW also has a French partner for its front wheel drive MINI vehicles – their transversely-installed Prince engines are shared with PSA Peugeot Citroen. They couldn’t find a platform partner so they’re instead going to share the next generation MINI front wheel drive platform with compact BMWs instead, leading to the shocking announcement last week that there would be front wheel drive compact BMWs in the pipeline.

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GM Advanced Design boss moves to Renault

March 16, 2010 at 12:43 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under General Motors, International News, Renault

GM Europe’s Director of Advanced Design, Anthony Lo, will move to become Vice President of Exterior Design at Renault. In France, he will work under recently appointed Design Director Laurens van den Acker, who replaced Patrick le Quément.

Van den Acker’s flowing style (he previously headed the Nagare movement at Mazda) is in contrast with le Quément’s fascination with boxes – the latter was responsible for daring designs like the Avantime, Vel Satis and the previous generation big booty Megane.

At GM, Lo designed one of my favourite concept cars, the Saab Aero X concept (2006 Geneva), and the Opel Flextreme (2007 Frankfurt). The sleek Saab’s windscreen, doors and windows moved upward in one piece, which not only looks cool, but is a good solution for a low slung sportscar. Prior to GM, Lo sketched for Mercedes and Audi and began his career at Lotus after graduating from the Royal College of Art’s Vehicle Design program.

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Renault Koleos crossover to be launched this weekend – full details and image gallery here!

March 10, 2010 at 11:15 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Renault

Local Renault distributor TC Euro Cars held a media preview of its Koleos crossover hours ago, ahead of the 4X4′s public launch this weekend. The Koleos is the French brand’s first true SUV and it sits in the Honda CR-V mid-size category (overall length of 4520 mm is identical to the Honda’s, but 2690 mm wheelbase is 70 mm longer).

The Koleos is a product that draws the best out of the Renault-Nissan Alliance – drivetrain and 4X4 system from Nissan; design, ride, handling and ergonomics from Renault; manufactured by Renault-Samsung in Busan, Korea for its relatively lower cost.

The Koleos is powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine with 170 bhp and 226 Nm of torque paired to a CVT with six virtual ratios – good for a 0-100 km/h time of 10.3 seconds and a 188 km/h top speed. The decision to source this particular pairing from Nissan is a good move as the Japanese company makes some of the best CVTs in town (we’d prefer it over a French auto ‘box!), not to mention that in general, customers in our market seem to trust Japanese engines better. The official combined fuel consumption figure is 10.5 km/l. Would be better with Renault’s fine 2.0 dCi engine, but that won’t come anytime soon, and you know the reason why.

The chassis of the Koleos is modified from the second-gen Nissan X-Trail (not sold here), which is pretty decent off-road for its kind. This, plus the fact that the Renault also gets the X-Trail’s All-Mode 4X4-i system means that the Koleos should be better off the beaten path than many of its classmates although it doesn’t look the part.

Instead of transferring torque to the rear wheels only when slip is detected, All-Mode 4X4-i “predicts” the moment AWD grip is required by measuring lateral and side acceleration, yaw rate, steering angle and accelerator pedal position among other parameters, and divides torque accordingly even before ESP intervenes. That’s the default Auto mode; you can also choose 2WD (front-wheel drive) or Lock mode, where torque is split 50:50 between axles. Also beneficial is Hill Descent Control and Hill Start Assist – the latter prevents backward movement on inclines of 10% and above.

While much of the hardware is from Nissan, the interior is appointed like a Continental model, with some clever French touches such as the lever in the boot that folds flat the split rear seats when you pull it. Other comfort and convenience features include airplane style fold down “tables”, chilled glovebox, B-pillar air vents for the rear passengers, three rows of flat folding seats, a split tailgate that you can sit on (max load 200 kg) and two 5-litre secret “lockers” under the rear floor. All very thoughtful.

Equipment include an 8-speaker Bose stereo as used in the Infiniti FX, ABS/EBA/ESP, six airbags, cruise control, auto headlights and wipers, auto parking brake, dual-zone climate control and start/stop button, among others. An optional panaromic sunroof is available for RM9,000. The most important safety “feature” is also here – a five-star Euro NCAP rating. For all the above, one needs to pay RM213,149.19 on the road excluding insurance. To touch and feel the Koleos, head down to its public launch this Saturday, March 13 at Bangsar Village, Kuala Lumpur.

Live pictures from the media preview after the jump!
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