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If you have a penchant for big, luxurious Renaults - and hell, who doesn't? - times have been tough since the departure of the Vel Satis in 2009.
But now Renault is back in the luxo-game with this, the Latitude - the first car, to our knowledge, to be named after a nouveau-hippy festival.
Big luxurious Renault fans rejoice! At least, rejoice if you live in Africa, Asia, Australia, the Gulf, Mexico or Russia, for those are the markets where the Latitude will initially go on sale.
Not Europe, and not Britain: Renault is yet to decide whether to sell the Latitude on these shores, doubtless dissuaded by the less-than-stellar sales of the Vel Satis.
The Latitude isn't a replacement for the Laguna. Oh no, it's bigger than that: at more than five metres long, it's far closer to a Citroen C6.
Architecture is shared with the Laguna, but the Latitude is most closely related to the Korean-only Samsung SM5. We're promised a ‘silent ride' and ‘a particularly precise chassis'. No word on residual values, curiously.
Renault is expected to decide by the end of the year whether to offer the Latitude in the UK. The petition starts here...
Revenge of the Vel Satis
Er, sort of. Renault unveils the Latitude, its new luxo-barge. But it isn’t coming to the UK
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What do you think?
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Mikeado commented on this article
at 05:15 pm on 08 June 2010
I ain't signing no petition. Not only is that design plagiarism-mania, I can't imagine this being a Vel Satis replacement. Why isn't it all tall and odd-looking? Big French luxo-barges should completely avoid any sporting pretentions whatsoever, but they should not do so by just looking bland like this does. Bring back the Avantime! But only after you've remembered how to design a unique car.
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Mike8573 commented on this article
at 06:02 pm on 08 June 2010
Ok, what they've done: they took a Samsung SM5, took off the front part, put Lexus LS's headlights and stole the VW Passat's grille. I liked the Megane 2, the Clio second generation, the first Twingo. Now, the Megane is even more boring than the first generation, the Clio has lost its specific grille and hence, identity. And last but not least, the Twingo looks like a Scenic had an affair with a C2. "Automobile creator": That was their slogan not so long ago. And now, thank you, Renault for offering us these extremely boring cars. Actually, whatelse to expect from them?
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StigsIrishCousn commented on this article
at 06:13 pm on 08 June 2010
Totally dull, nowhere near the madness of the Vel Satis or Avantime. 5 series lights and stance of a Passat so looks alright but not a proper loony luxo barge from Renault. Strange choice of countries it's going to though. Is it a cheap luxury car, or a cheap big car, or a luxury big and expensive car? Similar to the old Toyota Camry in some respects.
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lukecrowley571 commented on this article
at 06:16 pm on 08 June 2010
I think they've finally got their markets right, this will sell like hotcakes where people like their cars big, tough and simple, i.e. Africa, Russia, Australia and Asia. Can't see them selling any in the Middle East, though. Still, if they know what's good for them, there'll be a cut-price Lada version that will sell like even hotter cakes.
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JoshWa commented on this article
at 06:38 pm on 08 June 2010
No thank you, a Laguna is plenty.
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