Spy Shots: 2009 Nissan Murano... except it's not
Click on the photo for a high-res gallery of the Renault Koleos Concept
Spy photos taken during hot weather testing in Spain were widely circulated on the net yesterday and identified as the next generation Nissan Murano. However, a closer look at the photos reveals that this vehicle is in fact the production version of a vehicle that was shown by Renault at last fall's Paris Motor Show called the Koleos concept. The Koleos is being developed by Renault in conjunction with Korean partner Samsung. It is expected to be produced by Samsung in 2008 for sale under both the Renault and Samsung brands.The platform was developed with Nissan and it would not be surprising to learn that it's shared with the Nissan Rogue, which was revealed in production form at the Detroit Auto Show last January.
[Source: The Car Connection, Renault]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
bmoredlj 7:34PM (6/12/2007)
That profile and rear end remind me of something... wait...oh yeah, the AUDI CROSS COUPE QUATTRO concept.
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arnaud 2:26PM (6/13/2007)
Waou t'as l'air de t'y connaître toi... Except Renault unveiled the Koleos LONG BEFORE AUDI'S CRAP CONCEPT. Please stop being so stupid
paul34 7:35PM (6/12/2007)
Wait... Samsung?
As in, electronics giant Samsung? They make and sell cars?
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Stéphane Dumas 7:44PM (6/12/2007)
Samsung motors is now only a subsdiairy of Samsung,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Motor Renault own 70% while Samsung own 19%
saru 7:50PM (6/12/2007)
Yes Samsung acually made an infiniti well nissan counter part- the infiniti i30 from i think 1997 also know as the nissan cefiro, the had same chassis with very similar parts and i am not sure how this came about or if Samsung is a major manufacturer in South Korea. I am also unsure of any other vechiles being produced by Samsung.
jgp 8:48PM (6/12/2007)
Most large Asian companies have their hands in just about everything, including the automakers. The fact that the Samsung name is on a diverse group of products should be no surprise. This applies to both Japanese and Korean companies, which have similar corporate traditions.
I remember my parents having a Mitsubishi TV when I was a kid. I remember, when I was little, I was surprised to find out they made cars. Actually, the Mitsubishi Group is a giant company (which is more like a loose alliance of barely-related companies that share the same name), which used to be a Zaibatsu (the reason why all these companies share a name), with divisions in nearly every industry in Japan. They even have a nuclear energy division, Mitsubishi Atomic Energy. In Japan, the automotive division is always called Mitsubishi Motors (_never_ just "Mitsubishi") to distinguish them from the rest of Mitsubishi.
Nissan also used to be a Zaibatsu before World War II...they didn't make cars for much of their early history; they only entered the auto industry after they bought DAT (where the name Datsun comes from), and the automotive division was jointly owned by Hitachi at the time.
Samsung's fellow Korean company, Hyundai, is similarly organized; it's a loose alliance of companies that were founded by the same guy and share the same name. For example, Hyundai is also one of Korea's top department store chains.
Same goes with Daewoo. GM may own most of what used to be Daewoo Motors (now GM Daewoo Auto & Technology), but a few divisions of Daewoo are still independent. They used to have 289 subsidiaries in 20 divisions, but they shrunk down to three divisions (not including GMDAT) after a late-90s financial crisis forced the company into bankruptcy.
As with some of these other companies, Samsung Motors is barely related to the electronics company. Renault owns over 80% of Samsung Motors, who changed their name to Renault-Samsung Motors not too long ago.
Sung-Hwan Joo 8:07PM (6/12/2007)
Renault-Samsung is the Subsidary of Renault not Samsung.
They retained Samsung name only for marketing purpose in Korea after they bought the company from Samsung.
Renault owns 70% and Samsung owns 19%.
They builds SM3(Nissan Sentra), SM5 and SM7(Nissan Maxima). They are planning to drop Samsung name in 2008 after they buy the stock from Samsung.
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Typesbad 8:06PM (6/12/2007)
I was just mentioning to my son this morning that the Murano will be due for a redesign soon and that as far as I know, none of us have heard or seen a smidgen about it. Any information out there that I'm not aware of?
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ron 8:48PM (6/12/2007)
If this is the next murano, sales will do one thing... sink like the Titanic, I will take the Edge any day over the piece of junk
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sheikhness 9:13PM (6/12/2007)
wellz,
i like the butt but profile and front kinda suck.
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I_Hate_China 9:43PM (6/12/2007)
That "Samsung" mentioned in the article is not really Samsung, but Renault Korea. Renault Korea licensed Samsung brand when they took over Samsung Motors under a government mandated fire-sale during the Asian Financial Crisis. Well, Samsung did have a chance to stay in auto business by taking over Kia, but decided to exit the auto biz altogether. Renault Korea pays Samsung ~$180 per vehicle to use the Samsung brand on each Nissan vehicles it sells in Korean market. This particular model is being built because Renault Korea is running under-capacity and Renault hopes to profit in Europe the same way GM profits selling Daewoos as Chevrolets in Europe.
Samsung's exit from auto-biz was really a sad point from the consumer's perspective, because Samsung Motors did care about quality. Initial Samsung Motor vehicles had half the defect rate of Hyundais and even lower than original Nissans themselves. But the Renault Korea vehicles under the direction of "le cost killer" Carlos Ghosn are now worse than Hyundai(Which did improved to the point where Hyundai tear-down analysts now criticize Toyota for going too cheap on parts and Toyota banning its suppliers from selling parts to Hyundai(The only auto company that Toyota has explictly banned the parts sales to). Recent reports of Hyundai models surpssing Toyotas on quality survey are no accidents)
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Brocktoon 10:11PM (6/12/2007)
I saw the new Murano yesterday being flatbedded into the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary. Did not get a good look at it but spent some quality time with a blue Altima coupe. Must be some sort of dealer's meeting in town.
Anyway, the Murano was giving off a serious Hyundai vibe, FYI.
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Kool, Could be due for NA 11:44PM (6/12/2007)
Well, first let get some confusing matters out of the way.
1. Samsung group and Renault Samsung (RSM)
The latter is indeed a part of Renault S.A., not of Samsung group. The license fee for using Samsung is being paid to Samsung Electronics.
2. Presence of RSM in Korean Markets
While disputable, the very first SM5 jolted many domestic makers and was the lightening rod for upgrading the quality of domestic cars. However, it cannot be said for the current, as Hyundai-Kia have improved the quality on their products drastically. RSM is in the stage of being intergrated into Renault S.A (RSA).
3. Samsung Name Game
By when RSA will license the Samsung name? At least until 2010, when current license runs out. After that, nobody knows for sure what is going to happen. However, to have Renault name put in front of RSM cars may not prove favorable (as it is the case with Renault cars in its local market, France)
4. What is the vehicle in the pic?
Yes, this is the H45, the first cross over vehicle from RSA codeveloped with Nissan. Brother to Rogue and Qashqai.
5. What about Murano?
Code named H49, there is a possibility this too will be shared between Nissan and Renault. Most likely to be launched in 2009-2010 for Nissan version. Possible diesel engine option as well (for EU market, I guess).
6. How do I know all this?
I was the one who editted the Wiki info, cause...I happened to know. Ciao.
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Brocktoon 12:05AM (6/13/2007)
Dude, I saw the Murano yesterday, see post above. It looks like a big Sportage.
However, it could have been the X-trail replacement, as they are both sold in Canada. Had to be one or the other.
Ligor 11:44PM (6/12/2007)
#1,
yes that's how it worked. Renault saw the Audi a few weeks ago and produced a 60% ready production version of it in such a short time.
please think about it for a while before you post.
this definitely seems like a Nissan Rogue counterpart not the next Murano
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rv 12:25AM (6/13/2007)
Regarding the Murano; for a 30k supposed AWD vehicle, shouldn't it be able to make it up a hill? Search YouTube for "Subaru AWD versus Everyone Else" (some strange reason Audi is absent - not surprising) the Murano and CRV perform beyond incompetently - complete jokes. 2 vehicles I'll never understand the existence of...
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Kool, Could be due for NA 1:50AM (6/13/2007)
Murano and many of Audi's vehicles' use CVT transmission. The problem is, because CVT is not non-continuous like gear of a bicycle, they can struggle when going up hill: for instance, when going up hill from a plane, many bikers will have to chance gear. The chain moves down to the lower set of gear, and off you go with a renewed input of torque.
However, imagine that the gear is like a rubber attached between two pulleys-the gear cannot suddenly jump from one torque band to another like convetional A/T, just like the bike's. Hence, the problem with Murano and Audis.
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Shift head 5:20AM (6/13/2007)
'Hyundai, is similarly organized; it's a loose alliance of companies that were founded by the same guy and share the same name. For example, Hyundai is also one of Korea's top department store chains.'
Not true. HYUNDAI IS NO LONGER PART OF THE HYUNDAI CONGLOMERATE in South Korea. Hyundai Motor seperated from Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Engineering and numerous other companies in the Hyundai group when the present Chairman, Chung, took over several years ago from his father. He launched Hyundai on a 10 year plan to make Hyundai one of the top auto producers in the world with an almost obsessive focus on quality. A controlling interest in Kia was also purchased by Hyundai. Hyundai sold nearly 4 million cars last year and outsold the likes of Honda Motor worldwide.
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