Renault Captur Delayed Until September, Koleos Sales Falling Short

The arrival of Renault's Captur compact SUV has been delayed by 4-5 months as unprecedented international demand soaks up supply.

And the delay comes at a bad time for Renault, which is struggling to move meaningful numbers of its only current SUV here, the Koleos.

Although the Koleos has never commanded a large slice of the medium SUV market, current sales see it account for less than one percent of overall medium SUV volume. Last month, just 91 of the little wagon left dealer forecourts.

According to Renault Australia Managing Director Justin Hocevar, it's a challenge for the Koleos (below) to compete with much newer, high-profile models like the CX-5 and CR-V.

"We’re not completely satisfied with our Koleos volume," he said to TMR at the recent launch of the Clio GT, "we’d certainly like to do more with that vehicle.

"We think it’s an underrated offering in that market and that has a lot to do with its nameplate just not being as visible as its competitors.

"To be honest I think it’s got a lot to do with marketing to bring about the awareness of that vehicle, but as I said, the challenge in doing that is that in a highly-competitive market we don’t quite have the financial horsepower to do it just yet."