About a year and-a-half after we spotted Renault’s engineers evaluating a mule for their next SUV with the body of a Scenic, the French firm has moved on to prototypes with production bodies.

The current Koleos SUV is a re-badged version of the South Korean Renault Samsung QM5 and it was presented in Europe in 2006 having undergone two facelifts, one in 2011 and the other just last year, but it has largely failed to deliver in a very competitive segment.

The new model, which may end up getting a different name, is based on sister-company Nissan’s Qashqai crossover with which it shares its Common Alliance Platform. It’s very likely that the two SUVs will have several common diesel and petrol engines.

Due to the slightly larger underpinnings, interior space is expected to improve over the current Koleos allowing Renault’s new SUV to further distance itself from the smaller Captur.

It should arrive in the market within the next 18 months.

Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoops

Photo Gallery