Renault Kadjar (2022). His replacement will no longer be called Kadjar!

[Updated on 06/12/21] The argus was right! The replacement for the Renault Kadjar will be renamed Austral, a name with an international vocation according to the manufacturer.

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Presented with great fanfare to the press in February 2015 by Carlos Ghosn and then marketed the following June, the Renault Kadjar will give way to a second generation of compact SUV in the summer of 2022.

Yes, but it will no longer be called Renault Kadjar! The diamond brand is looking for a new name to the one we name internally under the code HHN.

"Kadjar" the pillar of Meo's strategy

This model will be a pillar of the reconquest strategy – the Renaulution – led by Luca de Meo, the new boss of Renault. The Italian leader who is moving the lines does not want to build his offensive on a name synonymous with a lackluster commercial career. Too close to the second-generation Nissan Qashqai from which it derives technically, too soft in its lines, the Renault Kadjar did not see the second version of the Peugeot 3008 arrive, which literally swept it off the market. The objectives are clear for the SUV with the diamond: to climb into the top European sales and allow the manufacturer to generate a margin thanks to its move upmarket.

“In France, in 2020, more than 45,000 units of the Peugeot 3008 found takers against less than 9,000 units of the Renault Kadjar.“

The conclusion is clear. We must start again on new bases, like the Talisman which had erased the Laguna. However, it is unlikely that Renault will draw the new surname of Kadjar from the list of its old concept cars. If the names Altica, Nepta or Ondelios remain available, this hypothesis consisting in making new with old is not compatible with the desires of modernity of the sieur de Meo. It will therefore be an ex-nihilo name for the future Renault SUV.

The return of Space and Scénic!

Another name in the hot seat, for the same reasons as Kadjar, Koleos should not be renewed. The future 7-seater family SUV that Renault wants to raise to the D segment should also inaugurate a new name. Unless the surname Espace is rightfully his? The hypothesis holds. Known internally under the code DHN, this vehicle will become by its size and its positioning on the market, the flagship of the range when it is launched in mid-2023 (entry into production in May 2023).

Space speaks clearly to the customer and is a symbol for the brand. Moreover, with the fifth generation launched in 2015, the model has already distanced itself from the world of minivans to set foot in SUVs. Similarly, at the end of 2023, a second electric crossover (code HCB), which will be placed in the catalog above the new 100% electric Renault Mégane E-Tech, will take on a well-known name: Scénic.

How to name the SUV coupé?

Finally, the family of thermal and hybrid SUVs of the brand will include a third silhouette in 2024, this is the RHN project. All three will be assembled in Spain at the Palencia plant located not far from Valladolid. It will be a coupe SUV which will also have to be named. Will it be the same name as that of the replacement for the Kadjar supplemented by the mention coupé? Or a new name like was Arkana? If you have any suggestions, we look forward to hearing them.