Renault is working on its image in the Middle East over the coming year, in the run up to some major car launches it has planned for 2008.

Although present in the region, its brand is not as popular as others in the market, and the company wants to improve its visibility and raise its profile. It will release 10 new cars over the coming two years, it said.

At the car Show is unveiled new Megans and Clios, both badged as Formula 1, and in the yellow used by the team. The Renault Clio F1 Team R27 is aimed at those that want performance, fashion and driving pleasure, the company said. Released in the first half of 2008, it comes with a two litre, 200bhp engine. The Megan F1 Team R26 is a two litre, 230bhp turbo, starting from around Dhs85,000. Both will sport an F1 plaque on their body.

Also coming out next year is its concept SUV, the Koleos is a 2.5litre Nissan engined car which includes a panoramic glass sunroof. Nicolas Guiochet, the general manager market at Renault, said the prototype was 90 per cent of the final version. It will be made in Korean and ship in the GCC countries in November next year.

The LED lighting on the concept version will not appear in the final version, because of the cost, said Guiochet. ‘We want to make citizen SUVs, not hardcore SUVs. So it’s about having fun onboard.’

Other Renault’s due out next year are the Logan and Logan MCV, which target the cheap end of the market.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Dubai Motor Show. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.