Photo: Renault
The subcompact segment is blooming in Europe, with crossovers making up most of the sales. Renault has only the Captur to its name, which has been recently facelifted to keep things fresh and tidy. The thing is, the French automaker wants a bigger piece of the pie, which is why an all-new B-SUV is in the pipeline. Like the Captur, it will be built at the Valladolid plant in Spain.
2019 will see the introduction of the yet-unnamed model to the automaker’s European lineup, and other than the segment, nothing else is known about the subcompact crossover. Speaking to Automotive News Europe, plant director Rafael Vazquez didn’t give any details on what to expect from the mysterious model. One possibility is a larger take on the Captur, called Grand Captur, which would mirror what Renault does with the Scenic and the Grand Scenic.
The other scenario comes in the form of an EV, which makes sense considering that Hyundai plans to electrify the Kona and Kia will do the same with the Stonic. Such a model would fit perfectly with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi’s Alliance 2022, a business plan that promises to bring forth no less than 12 EVs. One of those vehicles is the Nissan Leaf-based electric crossover.
Over at Valladolid, Renault also manufactures the Twizy electric quadricycle, which is another hint at what the automaker might be planning to do with the crossover in question. Plans for adding a third model to the Valladolid plant surfaced in 2016, when Renault announced an investment of 600 million euros in the facility. A part of the money will go into the tooling and equipment needed to manufacture an improved 1.5-liter dCi, which powers everything from the Dacia Sandero low-cost hatchback to the Renault Kadjar compact crossover.
According to JATO Dynamics, the Renault Captur is the best-selling small SUV in Europe in 2016, with sales totaling 112,586 examples. Over in Russia, the Captur is known as the Kaptur, and in comparison to the European model, it can be kitted out with all-wheel-drive.
The other scenario comes in the form of an EV, which makes sense considering that Hyundai plans to electrify the Kona and Kia will do the same with the Stonic. Such a model would fit perfectly with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi’s Alliance 2022, a business plan that promises to bring forth no less than 12 EVs. One of those vehicles is the Nissan Leaf-based electric crossover.
Over at Valladolid, Renault also manufactures the Twizy electric quadricycle, which is another hint at what the automaker might be planning to do with the crossover in question. Plans for adding a third model to the Valladolid plant surfaced in 2016, when Renault announced an investment of 600 million euros in the facility. A part of the money will go into the tooling and equipment needed to manufacture an improved 1.5-liter dCi, which powers everything from the Dacia Sandero low-cost hatchback to the Renault Kadjar compact crossover.
According to JATO Dynamics, the Renault Captur is the best-selling small SUV in Europe in 2016, with sales totaling 112,586 examples. Over in Russia, the Captur is known as the Kaptur, and in comparison to the European model, it can be kitted out with all-wheel-drive.
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