The twin under the skin to the new Nissan Qashqai – the Renault Austral – has been ruled out for Australia, despite the SUV boom.
Renault Australia has elected to not go ahead with imports of the new-generation Renault Austral even though it is available in right-hand drive and sales of small SUVs remain at record levels.
The Renault Austral is the new name given to the twin under the skin to the latest-generation Nissan Qashqai.
The previous model was called the Renault Kadjar, but it was dropped from the local line-up in early 2021 amid Renault’s switch to an independent distributor in Australia that streamlined the range.
It would previously anticipated the Renault Austral could be in local showrooms at the end of this year.
When asked last week about possible introduction timing for the new Renault Austral, the boss of Renault Australia, Glen Sealey, told a media briefing: “We’re not going to do it.
“It is available in right-hand drive for the UK. We’re aware of that.
“But when we looked at its positioning here, the price is not where it needs to be.
“The 5 per cent import tariff on cars from Europe basically rules that particular model out for us. It’s in a very price-sensitive part of the market.
“Our focus is on the three SUVs we have in showrooms today: Captur, Arkana and Koleos.”
It’s understood the new model is significantly dearer to manufacture.
When the new-generation Nissan Qashqai went on sale in Australia late last year, prices rose by up to $8000 compared to the previous model.
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