France's new Commodore rival Renault Latitude.

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France's new Commodore rival
Bruce Newton
April 12, 2011 - 5:38PM


New Renault Latitude sedan offers low pricing, lots of space and modest sales target.

The underwhelming reputation of French large cars will not prove a handicap to the modest sales expectations Renault Australia has for its new Latitude sedan, predicts company managing director Justin Hocevar.

The Latitude, which is now on-sale, follows in the footsteps of such forgettable French fare as Renault’s own Laguna, the Peugeot 607 and 407 and the Citroen C5, none of which have inspired much interest among Australian large sedan buyers.

Renault Australia is relying on a combination of affordable pricing and a long equipment list to tempt buyers into Latitude, dubbing it “Attainable Luxury”. Pricing starts at $36,990 for the base model, rising to $42,490 for the Luxe (pronounced Loox), excluding dealer delivery and statutory charges.

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Petrol and diesel powertrains are offered with no premium charged for the latter.

“It’s fair to say that many of the French brands and particularly Renault have been known for their small cars, hot hatches and so on,” Hocevar said. “But they also produce very good quality large cars that traditionally haven’t been positioned well in the Australian market.

“Now that we can position one at the right pricepoint there is an opportunity to introduce it to the local audience.

“We don’t have huge volume expectations, although we would certainly like to sell more than we did with Laguna, which was around a couple of hundred cars per year.”

The Latitude’s keen pricing undercuts the recently discontinued and smaller Laguna and reflects a range-wide push by Renault Australia for its models to be priced more competitively against volume brands.

Since its re-launch in Australia in 2001 Renault has been unable to manage any more than a few thousand sales per annum, falling far short of its original ambitious targets. However, the arrival of former BMW exec Hocevar in 2010 has coincided with a push to become a more mainstream player.

And while Latitude won’t contribute significantly to Renault’s volume aspirations, Hocevar argues it does give buyers an opportunity to stay with the brand as they graduate from smaller cars.

The Latitude follows on from the rapid fire launch in recent months of the latest generation Megane hatch and CC, Fluence sedan and the Kangoo and refreshed Trafic light commercial vehicle. The Grand Scenic has been axed along with the Laguna.

Baseline Latitude equipment includes six airbags, stability control, front and rear parking sensors, an Arkymys sound system, satellite-navigation, Bluetooth and multimedia connectivity, dual climate control, leather upholstery, Smart key entry and ignition and 17-inch alloy wheels (including a full-size spare wheel).

The Luxe adds a reversing camera, tyre pressure monitoring, Bose audio, tri-zone climate control, powered panorama sunroof, a two-mode driver’s massaging seat and 18-inch alloys.

Another tempting new Latitude feature is a five-year/unlimited km warranty Renault announced today for all its passenger vehicles apart from Renault Sport models. Renault is the first European manufacturer to extend from three years, matching Hyundai, Kia and Mitsubishi.

The Latitude is a French-Korean co-production, developed jointly by Renault and its subsidiary Samsung, which also manufactures the car at its Busan plant and sells it as the SM5 in its home market.

Hocevar insisted the Korean origins would not detract from the Latitude’s positioning as a European alternative to Japanese medium and large cars such as the Honda Accords and the Mazda6, as well as Euro-built Europeans including the Volkswagen Passat.

“Every European brand manufactures cars all over the world and so do the Japanese brands. Renault is no different in that regard,” he said. Renault Australia also sources the Koleos SUV and Fluence sedan from Korea and imports the Megane hatch from Turkey.

Under its conservative skin the Latitude is based on a derivative of the same front-wheel drive architecture as the Nissan Maxima. It also employs Nissan’s award-winning VQ-series 2.5-litre V6 petrol engine as well as Renault’s own 2.0-litre dCi turbo-diesel. Both drive through a six-speed automatic transmission.

The VQ25 engine produces 133kW and 235Nm and averages a claimed 9.7L/100km fuel consumption. The 2.0 dCi, which makes the transition from the Laguna, produces 127kW and 380Nm and averages 6.5L/00km.

At 4.9m long, 1.83m wide and with a 477 litre boot (a split-fold rear seat adds further capacity) the Latitude measures up around the same size as the locally-built large cars from Ford, Holden and Toyota.