Renault Samsung Motors has unveiled the all-new SM7 in South Korea. The new SM7, which shares its underpinnings with the Renault Safrane and the Nissan Maxima, is now in its second generation, with an arguably competitive approach.
Our last giveaway before Ramadan comes courtesy of freebies we got from Nissan-Renault events. Included in this gift pack is a fancy limited-edition Renault Trucks key-ring set, consisting of small heavy metal sculptures of the Renault Sherpa and Kerax “Cape To Cape” adventure trucks, as well as a booklet detailing the original adventure trip. We’re also throwing in a Nissan Altima-branded 1GB USB stick with built-in fingerprint security scanner.
Update: The winner is Bijoy John.
The Renault Koleos, a rebadged compact crossover built in Korea, has never really sold well in the GCC since its launch a couple of years ago. So the carmaker is going at it a second time with a facelifted model for 2012.
Renault, the French carmaker known for their weirdly-designed cars, has now revealed their latest 2012 Mégane Renaultsport 265 Trophy hot hatch ahead of its debut at an event in Nurburgring, Germany.
Our 2009 Renault Safrane hit the 10,000 km mark, so we took it in for a dealer service in Dubai. Making the appointment a day earlier by phone was hassle-free, and we dropped off the car at 10 am in the morning.
There is absolutely nothing to report on this car. Absolutely nothing. It is running fine, just as it has been since we bought it last Ramadan. And that is exactly how we like it.
Renault’s Middle East outfit has been releasing all sorts of “foreign” cars in the GCC market, such as the Logan from Romania and the Safrane from Korea, over the last few years, so much so that only a couple of models remained truly French. However, after a brief absence, the French-built third-generation Megane has finally reached the UAE, apparently going on sale quietly in November.
Renault chose to hold the GCC unveiling of the all-new 2011 Renault Safrane at the 2010 Riyadh Motor Show. As we had been speculating for ages, the new model is a simple rebadge of the car that debuted earlier this year in Europe as the Renault Latitude and in Korea as the Nissan-Samsung SM5.
Our black Renault Safrane V6, a brand new 2009 leftover model that we purchased last Ramadan, is on its way to completing 5000 km, and is soldiering on just fine. It also has the best fuel economy in our 3-car fleet by far, for obvious reasons.
So we finally put our money where our mouth is and bought a car that we recommended as an Editor’s Choice more than a year ago. That car happened to be the 2009 Renault Safrane V6, a midsize sedan that is badged as a French Renault, built by Korean Samsung, and designed by Japanese Nissan. That last bit was crucial in coming to our decision, for the Safrane shares a platform with the Altima and the Maxima, with various key components that are purely Nissan items. As luck would have it, the Safrane is not a resounding success, which means buyers can pick up brand new 2009 leftovers at nicely-reduced prices straight from the dealer.