All-new Renault Duster will be unleashed in March. Picture: Charl Bosch
Having kept a comparatively low profile throughout much of 2024, Renault South Africa officially detailed its product plans for 2025 at a special media conference in the Magaliesberg on Friday.
Attributing its quiet 2024 to exchange rate challenges as a result of its models being paid for in Euros regardless of the country of origin, Renault South Africa Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, Zian van Heerden, said it wants to remain a key player in the sub-R500 000 segments where a reported 75% of local consumers shop for a vehicle.
“As Renault, we are an importer – we don’t export, we purely import and for us, the biggest issue until before the [local government] elections was the exchange rate,” van Heerden said.
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“Everything we buy is in Euros and before the elections, [the exchange rate] was standing at just under R20. Since then, it has come down to about R19, which is favourable for us.
“At R18.50 to the Euro, we can import all the nice stuff, but above that, it becomes difficult. And that was one of the main reasons why last year, we had to make the tough call, “are we bringing Oroch, yes or no?”
Admitting that both of the pre-production prototypes shown at the Nampo Agricultural Expo in Bothaville in the Free State last year had since been destroyed, van Heerden said the Rand’s comparison to the Euro at the time had left it with no choice but to delay the first generation Duster-based Oroch indefinitely as it would simply have been too expensive and not a viable product to market.
Expressing positivity about recent projections for the local automotive sector, though, van Heerden said that while the Rand is prone to seesawing, “there is no immediate threat to it, and our country is quite stable, which should be positive for us.”
“We have seen very good forecasts by certain economists of R18.05 to the Euro by December next year, which will be really good for vehicle imports in South Africa”.
Going further, van Heerden said the brand’s current line-up of four products – Kwid, Triber, Kiger, and Captur – will be ramped-up significantly from March next year as it aims to reclaim its standing within the top five vehicle brands, having been demoted to sixth by Chery.
“If you look at the top five best-selling brands, the average number of different offerings to hit the sweet spot [when it comes to volume] is nine. Below that, you will struggle.
“The disruptor here is Chery with three and credit to them. But, if you want to sell volume, you have to introduce more models,” he said.
“We will look above that R500 000 mark and while we are doing consistently well with Kwid, Triber and Kiger, we [believe there is an opportunity] to participle [in this section of the market”.
Shown earlier this year in certain European markets as a Renault after debuting under sister brand Dacia last year, the brand will start its roll-out in March with the debut of the much delayed all-new Duster.
Originally supposed to have gone on-sale in the final quarter of this year, the Duster will form part of Renault’s transition towards electrification in that it will be motivated by a 48-volt mild-hybrid powertrain in place of the much loved but now discontinued 1.5-litre turbodiesel.
Initially sourced from Dacia’s Mioveni Plant in Romania, production will switch to the Chennai plant in India in the latter course of the year as part of a strategic move to bring the Bigster to South Africa either in 2026 or 2027.
A move that will coincide with alliance partner Nissan’s pending debut of its two models built at the same factory and based on the Duster and Bigster, the South African-spec Duster will again be offered with front-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive, the latter again offered exclusively with a six-speed manual gearbox.
Shown at the conference in near production four-wheel-drive form, the confirmation of the mild-hybrid powertrain all but points to the expected engine as being the turbocharged 1.2-litre TCe petrol that produces 96 kW.
A no-no for now is the E-Tech Hybrid which combines a normally aspirated 1.6-litre petrol with a 1.2-kWh battery pack for a total system output of 103 kW.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Bigster, which rides on the same platform as the Duster, will solely be offered with seven-seats as a means of justifying its projected premium.
Although offered with five seats in Europe, the three-row set-up for South Africa has been chosen deliberately so as not to cannibalise sales from the five-seat-only Duster.
As it stands, no details about specifications are known, although Renault has admitted to having already started talks about a range structure for South Africa.
Besides the Duster, the second quarter of 2024 will see the debut of the facelift Clio which also made its first public showing at the conference.
Unveiled in April last year, the restyled model will initially arrive with an unchanged powertrain consisting of the 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine paired to a five-speed manual gearbox.
Although spotted with an automatic ‘box not available with the engine in question in Europe, word is that the price premium placed on the self-shifter could see it being absent again in a similar scenario that prevents Renault from making the four-wheel-drive Duster available with two pedals.
For the moment, exact specifications of the Clio will only be announced closer to its local launch date.
More extensively, the fourth quarter of the year will see the debut of not only the facelift Captur, but the equally long delayed coupe-styled Arkana.
A model also supposed to have gone on-sale in 2024, the delay will in fact allow Renault to bring the facelift model to the local market that debuted in Europe last year.
Previewed alongside the now pre-facelift Captur Hybrid at Renault’s hybrid efficiency drive challenge at the Zwartkops Raceway last year, the Arkana will again be offered solely as a hybrid, which means the same electrified powerunit as the Captur albeit with 105 kW.
Completing the quarter, the Trafic van will be joined by the passenger variant aimed at the Hyundai Staria, Volkswagen Transporter and the new Ford Tourneo, while at the same time, the facelift Kiger and Triber will make their premieres in response to their world showing in India in April.
Post 2025, the long overdue replacement for the Kadjar will finally debut in the shape of the Symbioz in 2026, while the successor to the Koleos, the Chinese-made Grand Koleos, remains a no-no for now as production remains a left-hand-drive-only affair.
Renault South Africa did, however, disclose that feasibility studies into producing it with the steering gear on the right had been set into motion and that it has already expressed interest in offering it locally once converted.
At the other end of the scale, neither its latest electric products, the revived 4 and 5, will become available as a result of charging network challenges and a lack of government incentives promoting EVs.
Asked about the likely pricing of the 5, van Heerden stated that bringing it to market in the desired spec would come with a price tag of over R1-million – a move he described as pointless from a financial standpoint.
Also ruled-out, despite being of high interest, the successor to the Oroch, the Niagara, will remain bespoke to Latin America for now where it will debut in 2026.
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