Renault’s upcoming Kadjar SUV is expected to become a top-seller in the highly-competitive European compact SUV segment. IHS Automotive forecasts Renault will sell 118,000 units of the Kadjar in 2016, the model’s first full year of sales.
That would rank it third in the segment, behind the best-seller Nissan Qashqai and the VW Tiguan. Renault announced the new SUV’s name on Monday, but will reveal the first photos and technical details on February 2, ahead of the car’s world debut at the Geneva Motor Show a month later.
The Renault Kadjar will share underpinnings with the second-generation Nissan Qashqai, which continues to dominate the segment. Last year, Nissan sold 203,549 Qashqai crossovers in Europe, compared with VW’s 150,300 Tiguans. The Kia Sportage ranked third with 96,333 sales, according to data from JATO Dynamics.
With the new SUV, Renault may be looking to attract previous customers who have left the brand as it didn’t have a competitive compact SUV on offer. The Renault Koleos has been a disappointment in Europe, convincing just 7,423 customers last year, down 12 percent over 2013 sales. The Koleos ranks 18th in the segment rankings, in contrast with the Captur, which is the best-seller in the subcompact SUV segment.
The Kadjar may solve that problem, as IHS Automotive expects the new Renault SUV to eventually match the Qashqai’s annual European sales of more than 200,000 units.
Story references: Autonews Europe
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