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This is not a Porsche Cayenne, but something told us you already knew that. What you’re looking at is the new Renault Koleos. But the French softroader is available in Cayenne Orange, as pictured above. Hmm.

Previewed in the initial leaked images we brought you late last week, Renault has now fully unveiled the new Koleos, also known as the Samsung QM5. So what’s new about it? Well, aside from the new color, it’s got a refreshed front end, sideview mirrors with integrated LED indicators and an updated interior with such optional amenities as TomTom sat-nav and Bose sound systems.

Otherwise, it’s essentially the same crossover introduced just a few years ago, engineered by Nissan (Renault’s corporate cousin which holds far more crossover expertise than its French ally) and built in South Korea. It’ll be available to customers around the world with two diesels (in 150 and 175 horsepower status of tune) or a 170-hp gasoline engine, all re-tuned for lower emissions, driving either the front wheels or all four.

Follow the jump for the press release and scope out the images in the gallery for more.

Continue reading Renault fully unveils updated Koleos crossover

Renault fully unveils updated Koleos crossover

That the Renault/Dacia Duster has reached the Indian market may be news for the Indian automotive scene, but is hardly of consequence to American readers, or really to anyone outside of India. What is of more international importance, however, is what was previewed at the Duster’s unveiling in New Dehli.

While local journos were admiring the budget crossover, Renault gave a sneak peek at the upcoming facelifted Koleos.

The original Koleos – also known as the QM5 – was designed by Renault, engineered by Nissan and produced by Renault Samsung in South Korea. The new model features what looks like significantly revised sheetmetal, and will reportedly be launched in India before the rest of the world, as a Samsung in Korea and as a Renault everywhere else. Underpinned by the same platform as the Nissan Qashqai, Rogue and X-Trail, the Koleos offers a range of two-liter fours burning either gasoline or diesel.

We’ll be keeping an eye out for Renault to drop the full spectrum of images and details in the near future. But in the meantime, our friends at Indian Autos Blog sent us these shots taken at the unveiling, which you can view in the gallery below, beside the current model in the gallery below that.

Renault previews facelifted Koleos in India

Start naming Korean automakers. Ready? Go! Okay, there’s Hyundai, of course. And its sister company Kia. Daewoo’s been taken over entirely by GM. That’s it, right? Almost. Don’t forget Renault Samsung.

The French automaker produces its own line of vehicles in South Korea in partnership with electronics giant Samsung. The lineup includes the QM5 (also known as the Renault Koleos), the small SM3 and SM3 CE, the slightly larger SM5 and this, the new SM7.

The new top-of-the-line Samsung was previewed in concept form earlier this year, and is now ready for its production roll-out. The model it replaces offered 2.3-liter and 3.5-liter versions of Nissan’s ubiquitous VQ engine, and the new model is likely to follow a similar path. The sedan is based on the Nissan Maxima, and may very well be exported outside of its Korean market as a proper Renault. Check out the images in the high-res gallery below and the video after the jump for a closer look.

Continue reading Renault Samsung previews new SM7 [w/video]

Renault Samsung previews new SM7 [w/video]

Chris Bangle, the controversial former head of BMW design, has joined forces with Samsung to oversee the design of notebooks and phones. Bangle, you may recall, left BMW in 2009 after 17 years to focus on his own design projects.

According to Samsung, Bangle is operating as an outside influence on the design of their phones and laptops and will still work on his own projects outside of the company. The American designer set up Chris Bangle and Associates shortly after leaving BMW, and has been working on designing yachts and electronics ever since.

Samsung says the move is an effort to emphasize its new focus on the design of their electronics and move the brand upmarket. Samsung says it will set up a European design center specifically for Bangle and send 10 or so researchers from the company to work with him on new design ideas.

[Source: JoongAng Daily]

Flame Surfaced Computers? Chris Bangle reportedly signs deal with Samsung

Speaking outside its Electronics Research Lab in Palo Alto, California, Volkswagen chairman Dr. Martin Winterkorn reconfirmed the automaker’s commitment to bring electric vehicles to market in 2013, beginning with the eGolf compact and eUp! city car.

Drawing a faint parallel to the original Beetle, Winterkorn told the assembled media that “Volkswagen is working on the electric car for everyone.” And one of the first electrified V-Dubs will be its bread-and-butter Golf hatchback.

“The automotive industry is reinventing itself,” Winterkorn continued, “and Volkswagen will be the first automaker to mass produce the electric car for everyone.” VW believes that electric vehicles are the next great revolution in the automobile, and in order to achieve its goal of becoming the world’s top automaker by 2018, it believes it has to dominate the EV segment.

In addition to bringing two EVs to market in the next three years, the Touareg Hybrid (shown above) is being produced, with the hybrid Golf and Jetta due later that year and the hybrid Passat following in 2012. All of which VW considers to be interim products.

Although current battery technology has limited the eGolf to a 100-mile range when fitted with a 26.5 kWh battery pack, Winterkorn asserts that “Our customers are not willing to compromise. They expect the same thing from a standard [internal-combustion engine] Golf as they would from an electric Golf.” But until its partnerships with Samsung, Toshiba and other battery manufacturers pan out and develop lighter, smaller, less expensive and higher capacity batteries, they’ll have their work cut out for them.

When asked what VW plans to do about vehicle weight, Winterkorn rattled off a litany of advanced materials – from carbon fiber to magnesium – and told Autoblog that the next generation of Volkswagen products will undergo a weight loss program.

[Image: Sean Gallup/Getty]

Volkswagen reconfirms EVs for 2013, next-generation vehicles to reduce weight

2011 Renault Latitude – Click above for high-res image gallery

Continue reading 2011 Renault Latitude brings back conventional style to premium segment

2011 Renault Latitude brings back conventional style to premium segment