car to ride: Renault

Showing posts with label Renault. Show all posts

Spied: Renault Finishing Up Development of New Clio Sport Tourer

Renault may have slipped up by placing a naked example of a pre-production 2013 Clio Sports Tourer in an official video (later on removed) for the new generation Clio hatchback, but it's still not willing to admit defeat and continues to keep the prototype models under some seriously twisty camouflage wraps.

The new Clio Sport Tourer, which most likely will follow the example of the outgoing model and be offered under different monikers in Europe including Estate and Grand Tour, is clearly longer than the five-door hatchback with an extended rear overhang to improve the luggage area.

The success of Nissan's crossover models such as the Juke and the Qashqai in Europe has not gone unnoticed by its partner Renault, which is now preparing to duplicate the Japanese brand's recipe staring with a junior CUV.

At the 2011 Geneva Salon, Renault hinted at its intentions to enter the small crossover segment with the fancy Captur Concept. Later on, the French automaker confirmed the development of a production model loosely inspired by the study to replace the Modus and Grand Modus small minivans in its European lineup.

Now, we have the first scoop photos of the prototype model that will lead to the production version and which was nabbed while testing in Europe. As you can see, the only resemblance to the concept is the car's front-end styling with the rest of the body being completely different.

If these spy shots are anything to go by, then in addition to the new Clio RS 200 with around 200hp under its hood, Renault is also prepping a "lite" version to fill the gap in the range between the regular models and the RS flagship.

The prototype model entering the Renault facility in Germany featured a restyled front bumper with a larger lower air-intake in a different design than the one seen on the Clio RS test car, along with a new set of wheels, light grey colored mirror caps, a rear diffuser, and an extended roof spoiler.

Only yesterday, we brought you pictures of the new Clio RenaultSport (RS) Mk4 without a single trace of camouflage, but our scoop photographers were fortunate enough to spot a second undisguised prototype, this one finished in a more revealing white instead of black exterior shade.

But that's not the only reason we're writing this post as fresh information landed into our hands earlier today.

What we learned is that the "New Clio RS 200 EDC" will definitely make its first public appearance at this month's Paris Motor Show. If you noticed, we mentioned the name of the car in quotes. This is because that's how the performance version of the new Clio was described to CarScoop.

Even though Renault hasn't made it clear it yet if the regular fourth-generation Clio supermini will be joined by its performance brethren, the Clio RenaultSport (RS), at the brand's the Paris Motor Show stand, there's a good chance it will.

Those of you who just can't wait to see how the 2013 Clio RS Mk4 looks like, we have good news as for the first time, our spy photographers nabbed the hot hatch completely undisguised at Renault's Nürburgring facility.

The frisky French supermini will take on the likes of the also new Peugeot 208 GTi and the Volkswagen Polo GTi when it goes on sale in Europe next year.

On the outside, the RenaultSport variant obtains a rather discreet styling package, which includes a newly styled front bumper with enlarged air vents, a honeycomb grille insert surrounded by a body-colored strip (instead of the regular model's chrome finish), side skirts, a larger roof spoiler and a twin-exhaust set-up in the rear apron that hosts a diffuser.

The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, has received a new set of wheels, courtesy of French carmaker Renault.

The Pope's new ride is based on the pure-electric Kangoo Maxi Z.E. and was developed in association with the French coachbuilder Gruau, while Renault also donated a second vehicle to the Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City.

Looks aren’t one of the Nissan Versa's (or as it's called in other markets around the world, Sunny) strong points. The fact that is heavily based on the Micra sub-compact featuring odd proportions and small wheels doesn't help either.

Nevertheless, Renault's designers were able to make their version of the Versa / Sunny, the new Indian market Scala, look a tad more presentable by applying a few styling tricks.

It's no secret that the European market Renault Fluence and the Asian market Samsung SM3 sedans are one and the same, which leads us to believe that the changes seen on the updated version of the Korean saloon will likely be applied to the French model. Read more »

Witty Renault Ads Pose the Question: Do You Know What You're Going to Pay?

It's not unusual for people to get themselves in a situation that could eventually end up costing them far more than what they originally expected.

Renault wanted to point out that its clients can rest assured that, when it comes to servicing their cars, they will always know what they will pay beforehand through two funny commercials that put a price on creating a family.

These are the first official images of the new Renault Scala, a compact-sized saloon aimed at the Indian market.

In exactly the same way that the Renault Pulse supermini is a re-badged version of the Nissan Micra, the Scala is a Renault-faced iteration of the Nissan Sunny, which is sold in North America as the Nissan Versa sedan.

The collaboration between the Daimler and the Renault-Nissan groups that began in spring of 2010 seems to be working better than expected, as the two automotive companies are now reportedly getting ready to add new projects to their partnership.

According to a news report from German business daily Financial Times Deutschland (FTD), Daimler is mulling building compact Mercedes-Benz passenger cars with partner Renault-Nissan from 2016 in Eastern Europe to further reduce development costs and increase production volumes.

If you enjoy cars and movies, you will no doubt have seen at least one of the three Transporter films starring Jason Statham as Frank Martin, a professional freelance courier driver for hire who gets in all sorts of troubles and high-speed car chases.

What you may not know is that HBO, HBO Canada, French TV-channel M6, and German television company RTL, have joined forces to create a television series based on the film aptly named "Transporter: The Series".

Now here is a road rage incident with a somewhat unexpected ending. For starters, and as you may have already figured out by our movie-related title, this incident did not take place in Russia but in Israel.

While we saw the video posted on several channels today, we tracked down the original clip on YouTube, which was uploaded in April of 2011 and somehow escaped our attention at the time.

The footage from the dashboard mounted camera shows the car driving along the road when suddenly (at the 1 minute mark) a blue-colored Renault 19 makes an illegal pass and stops right in front.

In the past few months, Lotus has been making the headlines, but not for the right reasons. After Proton sold the British sports car maker to DRB-Hicom, CEO Dany Bahar was ousted and its future was once again thrown into doubt.

However, the Renault-Nissan Alliance may be the knight in shining armor that will give the Hethel-based company a new lease on life.

It’s not only Europe that has Renault worried as the French automotive group is now having troubles in South Korea with its Samsung unit.

Renault Samsung said on Friday that it would launch its first ever voluntary redundancy programme in order to deal with falling sales both in its home market and abroad.

Depending on your car, tires can be expensive, we know. But sometimes, there are things you have to purchase like a good set of tires, which you should really spend the extra buck on as it could literally save your life.

Take this recent story for example. Keith Johnston, a 41-year-old man from Tyne and Wear, which is a metropolitan county in North East England, is now paralyzed from the chest down due to the unfortunate bout of purchasing what he claimed to be "partly worn tires" for his Renault Scenic minivan.

Renault tuning specialist K-Tec Racing has prepared a new performance package for owners of the hottest version of the RenaultSport (RS) Megane, the 265 Trophy, the main component of which is a software upgrade for the compact model's 2.0-liter turbocharged engine. Read more »

Renault to Boost Engine Production Capacity in Brazil by 25 Percent

French carmaker Renault today announced plans to expand its engine manufacturing facility at the Ayrton Senna production site in Curitiba, Brazil, by 5,000 square meters (53,820 Sq. ft.) in order to boost annual output from 400,000 to 500,000 engines by early 2013. Read more »

2014 Renault Megane Coupé IV Design Concept

It may be a bit early to be talking about a new Renault Megane - given that the current iteration of the compact model has been with us only since late 2008 having received some mild updates earlier this year, but we have discovered some interesting renderings from designer Clavet Thomas that we thought we'd share with you.

The designs are for a replacement of the sportier looking Megane Coupé, which is essentially a three-door hatchback with a coupe-ish roofline, much in the likes of the VW Scirocco and Opel / Vauxhall Astra GTC.

As it turns out, Nissan will split production of the new Rogue crossover between its Smyrna plant in Tennessee, USA, (starting from next year), and the Renault Samsung Motors factory in Busan, South Korea, (beginning in 2014).

Analysts believe that Nissan will benefit from a weak Korean won and recent free trade deals.

The French-Japanese firm said it will invest US$160 million (€130 million) to add 80,000 units of the Nissan Rogue production in Korea and "increase cost competitiveness of a key industrial base". The vehicles will be shipped to North America and select Asian countries.

car to ride

Spied: Renault Finishing Up Development of New Clio Sport Tourer

Le Scoop: New Renault Captur Small Crossover Based on the Nissan Juke

Spy Shots: Renault Working on Second Sporty Clio, Could Wear the Gordini or GT Badge

Scoop: 2013 Renault Clio RS 200 Undisguised in White, Paris Motor Show Debut and EDC Confirmed

Spy Shots: New Renault Clio RS Mk4 Caught Completely Undisguised!

To the Popemobile: Renault Gifts Two Specially Modded Kangoo Maxi Z.E. to Pope Benedict XVI

Renault Launches Somewhat Prettier and More Luxurious Nissan Versa as the New Scala in India

Renault Samsung Reveals SM3 Facelift in Korea, Previews Updated Fluence

Witty Renault Ads Pose the Question: Do You Know What You're Going to Pay?

Renault Slaps its Face on the Nissan Sunny / Versa and Calls it the New Scala for India

Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti May Build Compact Cars Together in Europe

Renault Megane RS to Star in Transporter TV Series Episode, First Pictures and Video

You Don't Mess with the Zohan: Watch a Bad Ass Hoodlum Turn Into an Obedient Pussycat

Lotus Rumored to Build New Renault Alpine and Infiniti Emerg-e Sports Cars

Renault's South Korean Samsung Unit to Cut Jobs as it Tries to Tackle Falling Sales

Buying Partly Worn Used Tires Can be a Devastating Mistake

K-Tec Racing Welcomes the Renault Megane RS 265 to the 300-horsepower Club

Renault to Boost Engine Production Capacity in Brazil by 25 Percent

2014 Renault Megane Coupé IV Design Concept

Nissan to Build Next Generation Rogue Crossover in South Korea as well as in the U.S. [Updated]