It is looking to be a busy year for Renault in South Africa with at least three new cars scheduled to arrive in 2024, with more potentially in the works.
So far, the French carmaker is expected to launch the facelifted Clio and Captur as well as the next-generation Duster, but there’s also one model that is now off the planning table – the Oroch bakkie.
What to expect in 2024
Starting with the new stuff South Africa can look forward to this year, 2024 will usher in the updated versions of the Clio hatchback and Captur crossover.
It may seem too early for these cars to be getting a facelift considering that the Clio only went on sale locally in February 2022 while the Captur arrived in March 2023, but both of these models have actually been available for much longer overseas.
Owing to the pandemic, South Africa ended up receiving the new versions of several cars from various manufacturers much later than initially intended, with Renault being no exception, and so the incoming versions will represent a mid-life revision for their respective nameplates.
Specifics around each car have yet to be announced, but it’s reasonable to assume that the Clio will retain its current engine since it’s only a facelift and not a new-gen car, leaving it with a 1.0-litre turbo-petrol plant with 74kW and 160Nm.
The Captur, on the other hand, could get a new hybrid motor, as the company previously announced that it was investigating two new electrified units for South Africa.
One of these is the Captur, while the other is the Arkana – a crossover coupe that has never been sold locally before. Both of these vehicles would be denoted by an “E-Tech” badge and feature a 1.6-litre petrol engine in tandem with a 36kW electric motor, though it’s important to clarify that neither have been officially confirmed for a domestic launch as of the time of writing.
Another vehicle that is currently planned to launch in the second quarter of 2024 is the next-gen Duster, which has already been revealed to European buyers under the Dacia brand.
The 4×4 crossover has seen a complete redesign with new looks and the company’s CMF-B platform which has improved its off-roading capabilities.
While South Africa’s engine options are still unconfirmed, the European version has three drivetrains with two hybrids and a bi-fuel unit that uses both petrol and LP gas.
There are two other models that Renault has unveiled in the past year, namely the Kardian and Rafale, but neither will be coming to the tip of Africa anytime soon as the manufacturer has said that the domestic market is not part of either of these models’ international lineups.
Renault’s India division is also working on updates to the popular Kiger and Triber which could make their way here in the future, but again no announcements have been made yet.
This leaves the Renault Oroch, which is a compact light-commercial vehicle that South Africans were eagerly awaiting, given how sparsely populated the segment is.
With the Nissan NP200 now on its way out, the Oroch was seen as the logical successor to fill the gap left in the market.
While the bakkie was at one point planned for a local introduction, a spokesperson for the brand told IOL that “due to unfavourable economic market factors, in particular the degradation of the exchange rate, the Oroch project is not feasible at this stage.”
Join the discussion