One of the advantages of large, multi-brand automotive groups is the ability to share platforms and therefore quickly – not to mention cheaply – generate derivatives across brands.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance is certainly taking advantage of this with its latest offering, the Nissan Qashqai-based Renault Kadjar crossover.How times have changed – Renault was the company that brought us the ground-breaking Espace and Scenic MPV minivans in the 1980s and ’90s respectively, but consumer tastes have shifted since their introduction with sales of this type of pragmatic family transport all but decimated by the rise of the crossover. Fortunately Nissan has been instrumental in the boom in crossover sales, so piggybacking on its bestselling Qashqai makes fine business sense
While clearly related to its Nissan counterpart, Renault insists everything you see is different. Overall it’s a little longer than the Qashqai, at 4,450mm, which gives it more luggage space. And while costly to develop items such as door structures are shared, its DLO is differentiated by a new rear quarter light design. The designers were also able to determine the surfacing of the car to fit in with the smaller Captur and Clio as well as the larger Espace. If you’d never seen a Qashqai you’d never question is authenticity as a Renault
It’s a similar story inside, with clearly very similar architecture yet the reskinned IP and door cards as well as Renault-specific gauges and HMI mean this is far more than simple badge engineering.