“Never call me Kadjar again, the customers let me down …” This is not the last wish of Renault’s SUV but that of its boss Luca de Meo. The second version, expected in 2022, will be the spearhead of a winning strategy with which the name Kadjar will no longer be associated.
Presented with great fanfare to the press in February 2015 by Carlos Ghosn 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 call internally under the code HHN.
“Kadjar” the pillar of Meo’s strategy
This model will be a pillar of the strategy of reconquest – 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 commercial failure. 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 arrival of the second version of the Peugeot 3008 which literally swept it into the market. The objectives are clear for the diamond SUV: to climb into the European top sales and allow the manufacturer to free up the margin thanks to its move upmarket.
“In France, in 2020, more than 45,000 units of the Peugeot 3008 found buyers against less than 9,000 units of the Renault Kadjar.“
The conclusion is clear. We have to start on new bases, like the Talisman which 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 even Ondelios remain available, this hypothesis consisting in making new with old is hardly 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 Scenic!
Another name on the spot, for the same reasons besides that Kadjar, Koleos should not be renewed. The future family SUV with 7 seats that Renault wants to hoist in the D segment should also inaugurate a new appellation. Unless the patronymic Space comes to him by right? The hypothesis holds. Known internally under the code DHN, this vehicle will become, by virtue of 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, it speaks clearly to the customer and it is quite 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 get a foothold in SUVs. Likewise, at the end of 2023, a second electric crossover (code HCB), which will be placed in the catalog above the new Renault Mégane E-Tech 100% electric will take over a well-known name: Scénic.
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How to name the SUV coupe?
Finally, the brand’s family of thermal and hybrid SUVs will feature a third silhouette in 2024, 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 find a name. Will it be the same name as that of the replacement for Kadjar completed by the mention cut? Or a new name like Arkana was? If you have any suggestions, we look forward to hearing about them.
