France's new Commodore rival Renault Latitude.

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France's new Commodore rival
Bruce Newton
April 12, 2011 - 5:38PM


New Renault Latitude sedan offers low pricing, lots of space and modest sales target.

The underwhelming reputation of French large cars will not prove a handicap to the modest sales expectations Renault Australia has for its new Latitude sedan, predicts company managing director Justin Hocevar.

The Latitude, which is now on-sale, follows in the footsteps of such forgettable French fare as Renault’s own Laguna, the Peugeot 607 and 407 and the Citroen C5, none of which have inspired much interest among Australian large sedan buyers.

Renault Australia is relying on a combination of affordable pricing and a long equipment list to tempt buyers into Latitude, dubbing it “Attainable Luxury”. Pricing starts at $36,990 for the base model, rising to $42,490 for the Luxe (pronounced Loox), excluding dealer delivery and statutory charges.

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Petrol and diesel powertrains are offered with no premium charged for the latter.

“It’s fair to say that many of the French brands and particularly Renault have been known for their small cars, hot hatches and so on,” Hocevar said. “But they also produce very good quality large cars that traditionally haven’t been positioned well in the Australian market.

“Now that we can position one at the right pricepoint there is an opportunity to introduce it to the local audience.

“We don’t have huge volume expectations, although we would certainly like to sell more than we did with Laguna, which was around a couple of hundred cars per year.”

The Latitude’s keen pricing undercuts the recently discontinued and smaller Laguna and reflects a range-wide push by Renault Australia for its models to be priced more competitively against volume brands.

Since its re-launch in Australia in 2001 Renault has been unable to manage any more than a few thousand sales per annum, falling far short of its original ambitious targets. However, the arrival of former BMW exec Hocevar in 2010 has coincided with a push to become a more mainstream player.

And while Latitude won’t contribute significantly to Renault’s volume aspirations, Hocevar argues it does give buyers an opportunity to stay with the brand as they graduate from smaller cars.

The Latitude follows on from the rapid fire launch in recent months of the latest generation Megane hatch and CC, Fluence sedan and the Kangoo and refreshed Trafic light commercial vehicle. The Grand Scenic has been axed along with the Laguna.

Baseline Latitude equipment includes six airbags, stability control, front and rear parking sensors, an Arkymys sound system, satellite-navigation, Bluetooth and multimedia connectivity, dual climate control, leather upholstery, Smart key entry and ignition and 17-inch alloy wheels (including a full-size spare wheel).

The Luxe adds a reversing camera, tyre pressure monitoring, Bose audio, tri-zone climate control, powered panorama sunroof, a two-mode driver’s massaging seat and 18-inch alloys.

Another tempting new Latitude feature is a five-year/unlimited km warranty Renault announced today for all its passenger vehicles apart from Renault Sport models. Renault is the first European manufacturer to extend from three years, matching Hyundai, Kia and Mitsubishi.

The Latitude is a French-Korean co-production, developed jointly by Renault and its subsidiary Samsung, which also manufactures the car at its Busan plant and sells it as the SM5 in its home market.

Hocevar insisted the Korean origins would not detract from the Latitude’s positioning as a European alternative to Japanese medium and large cars such as the Honda Accords and the Mazda6, as well as Euro-built Europeans including the Volkswagen Passat.

“Every European brand manufactures cars all over the world and so do the Japanese brands. Renault is no different in that regard,” he said. Renault Australia also sources the Koleos SUV and Fluence sedan from Korea and imports the Megane hatch from Turkey.

Under its conservative skin the Latitude is based on a derivative of the same front-wheel drive architecture as the Nissan Maxima. It also employs Nissan’s award-winning VQ-series 2.5-litre V6 petrol engine as well as Renault’s own 2.0-litre dCi turbo-diesel. Both drive through a six-speed automatic transmission.

The VQ25 engine produces 133kW and 235Nm and averages a claimed 9.7L/100km fuel consumption. The 2.0 dCi, which makes the transition from the Laguna, produces 127kW and 380Nm and averages 6.5L/00km.

At 4.9m long, 1.83m wide and with a 477 litre boot (a split-fold rear seat adds further capacity) the Latitude measures up around the same size as the locally-built large cars from Ford, Holden and Toyota.

[Wretched]

A lot better looking than previous offers.
Will have to wait to see what it is like on the road.

Now if Renault Sport could make a version...

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Renault Latitude’s high-end appointments
include:

• A 3D Sound by Arkamys® audio system which is manufactured with cinema sound know-how,
• A fully integrated satellite navigation system fitted as standard,
• Bluetooth® connectivity with audio streaming and multimedia connection box,
• Renault Smart Card Key providing hands-free entry and ignition, with automatically locking doors as the card-holder walks away from the vehicle,
• Electric height adjustable and heated driver’s seat with manual lumbar support,
• Heated, manually adjustable front passenger seat,
• Height and tilt adjustable front headrest,
• Height and reach adjustable steering wheel,
• Dual-zone climate control with rear air vents,
• 17-inch alloy wheels with full-sized spare,
• Automatic parking brake, which is applied when the engine is switched off,
• Body coloured, electric, heated and foldable side mirrors with side turn signal light,
• Sun blinds for rear windscreen and side rear windows,
• Tinted windows and windscreen,
• Chrome exterior trim,
• Black leather-trimmed upholstery with leather wrapped steering wheel and gear knob,
• Front and rear centre consoles with armrest and cup holders and a conveniently illuminated glove box,
• 60:40 split fold rear seats to enable bulky items to be transported with ease.

In addition, the Renault Latitude Luxe boasts:

• A state-of-the-art Bose® Sound System developed in conjunction with Renault,
• Three-zone climate control with toxicity sensor and combined active carbon filter,
• Samsung Super Plasma® air ioniser with fragrance diffuser,
• Memory, heated, electronically adjustable driver’s seat with electric lumbar support and two-mode massage function,
• Electronically height adjustable front passenger seat,
• 18-inch alloy wheels with full-sized spare,
• Panoramic electric glass sunroof,
• Boot spoiler,
• Electric, body coloured side view mirrors with reverse synchronisation linked to memory seat.

The Renault Latitude comes standard with a host of active and passive safety equipment:

• Front and rear parking proximity sensors,
• Anti-pinch electric windows, front and rear,
• ABS with electronic brake force distribution,
• Emergency brake assist and automatic activation of hazard warning lights,
• ESP with ASR traction and understeer control,
• Six airbags, including adaptive driver and front passenger airbags, two dual-chamber thorax-groin lateral airbags combined with twin side-impact sensors and two curtain airbags,
• Three-point seat belts for all occupants,
• Pretensioners and load limiters for front occupants,
• Cruise control
• Speed limiter,
• Three child seat anchorage points for rear seats,
• Automatic windscreen wipers,
• Automatic headlights and fog lamps,
• Day and Night rear view mirrors.

In addition, customers who opt for the Renault Latitude Luxe, also get the following additions:

• Reversing camera integrated into the in-dash satellite navigation display,
• Tyre pressure monitoring system,
• Electrochrome rear view mirror.

It’s not just the extensive inventory of features that impress either. The quality of the materials inside the cabin is well and truly on par with some of the premium German brands such as Audi and BMW.

[Wretched]

43k does get some pretty nifty features.
I'd prob take the diesel over the petrol engine.

[Fev]

Looks like a cross between a honda civic and a holden cruze.. urrgh.

[Poetic Justice]

Gotta be impressed with what you get for your $$ compared to the competition.

[Kryton]

Thats a lot of vehicle for the price!

[Mr Hardware]

wow it really looks similar to so many other cars
not that that's a bad thing, most people don't like the migraine or whatever their dicky little hatch is
but it could be any brand for all i know

also it looks to be more or less just a Maxima

[Deco28]

WTF, the petrol V6 makes less power and torque then the I4's offerd in the Sonata, Optima, Kizashi and 6 etc....

What a weak motor.

Fuel consumption worse then a 3.0l V6 Commodore and only as good as a 4l I6 Falcon.... You'd hope the rest of the package is worth the coin, because as I see it, this car has nothing going for it.

[Burnout]

No one can produce a Car as ugly as the 'Frogs'.
Not quite "supermegafugly", just close.

[bobthebilda]

Seems like the "commodore" section is going to be a little more crowded over the coming months. Just the other day, I saw a news report describing the Optima as "better than an omega, and $3000 less in price".

Not sure of the sizes of these cars in comparison to medium/large cars, but if they straddle the categories, they may give a commodore/ camry buyers serious reason to change.

[Chopped]

People will but it simply because it is not a Commodore or Falcon.
It's Euro...it has to be better !

[Fairlane]

So its like a Nissan Maxima, except more expensive and with worse resale- PASS. If I was in the market for a large FWD, Id have to look at the Kia Optima, Skoda Suburb or Mazda 6.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Burnout

No one can produce a Car as ugly as the 'Frogs'.

That's no way to talk about a 2CV !!

[MethodX]

Originally Posted by Chopped

People will but it simply because it is not a Commodore or Falcon.
It's Euro...it has to be better !

Europe by way of Samsung.
The wooly jumper, red bowtie tweed set will have another French car to buy.

[Mr Hardware]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

So its like a Nissan Maxima, except more expensive and with worse resale- PASS. If I was in the market for a large FWD, Id have to look at the Kia Optima, Skoda Suburb or Mazda 6.

or i45

[Carby]

Given French cars propensity to have Electrical/Electronic problems there's a lot of basic material here to maintain that reputation.

[Burnout]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

That's no way to talk about a 2CV !!

True, I guess you could use one as a roof for a 'chook shed'.

[b2tf]

Kind of reminds me of an Accord Euro.

[DJM83]

I like

[Paxton]

Originally Posted by DJM83

I like

Me too. The interior of the top of the line model is amazing with its inclusions.

[Franco Cozzo]

I quite like the look of that, but for the price its going to come up in hard competition against the Kia Optima, except that Kia is only delivering 1100 of those to Australia this year.

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by Chopped

People will but it simply because it is not a Commodore or Falcon.
It's Euro...it has to be better !

No, people will buy it based on value for money (at least on paper it looks that way), their interest in the car (looks, drive, etc) and because they have a choice of something other than the vanilla camry or falcodore.

Though you could be partly right, it might be better than much of its competitors.

With this and others like the Kia Optima coming in some car makes really will need to offer a little more to the market.

[Bossxr8]

I don't know why Renault in Australia don't just give up. They have re-launched the brand again, the 3rd time now I think. Bar the RenaultSport Megane and Clio they are a nothing brand, and have failed to meet their sales expectations every year since being re-introduced to the country.

This will be another poor seller to join all the previous big Renaults.

[drew`SEVNT5]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

I don't know why Renault in Australia don't just give up. They have re-launched the brand again, the 3rd time now I think. Bar the RenaultSport Megane and Clio they are a nothing brand, and have failed to meet their sales expectations every year since being re-introduced to the country.

This will be another poor seller to join all the previous big Renaults.

Similar sentiments could be said about the 'beloved' Falcon...

[janddbone]

Renault are making some nice cars... Next upgrades for us will have the Megane, Kangoo and this new Lattitude on the list...

[bafel]

Already looks 10 years old.

What demand is there for a large fwd car aimed at private buyers in an already shrinking market?

[bobthebilda]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

I don't know why Renault in Australia don't just give up. They have re-launched the brand again, the 3rd time now I think. Bar the RenaultSport Megane and Clio they are a nothing brand, and have failed to meet their sales expectations every year since being re-introduced to the country.

This will be another poor seller to join all the previous big Renaults.

My guess would be that since they sell so many cars in other markets (example of french March sales below), they may as well capitalise on the economies of scales they get from their factories. The congolmerate (nissan -renault) want to beat VW to take number 1 (worldwide) from Toyota. You have to be in every market to do that.


France March 2011:

Pos Model Mar
1 Renault Clio 12,700
2 Citroen C3 12,565
3 Peugeot 207 12,140
4 Peugeot 206+ 8,829
5 Renault Mégane 7,847
6 Peugeot 308 6,732
7 Dacia Duster 6,634
8 VW Polo 6,316
9 Citroen C4 II 6,300
10 Renault Twingo 6,267
11 Renault Scénic 6,074
12 Ford Fiesta 5,780
13 Peugeot 3008 5,676
14 VW Golf/Plus 5,271
15 Opel Corsa 5,270
16 Renault Clio Campus 5,200
17 Citroen C4 Picasso 5,011
18 Dacia Sandero 4,378
19 Citroen C3 Picasso 4,331
20 Peugeot 107 4,121
21 Citroen DS3 3,817
22 Citroen C1 3,665
23 Renault Modus 3,352
24 Renault Laguna 3,176

[csv8]

Fiesta is no 12 in French sales..thats good news for Ford. Corsa/Barina is no 15. James Mays favourite car. the Dacia is no 7 and 18

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by drew`SEVNT5

Similar sentiments could be said about the 'beloved' Falcon...

Falcon has been around for 50 years, and has been a number 1 seller over a number of years, and still in the top 10 sellers, so how is that relevant to a Renault selling maybe a few hundred a year.

And Ford is not a nothing brand in Australia, I don't think they have been out of the top 3 sellers at least the last 7 decades.