FiestaST
Honorary Master
Renault's new flagship SUV.
The new Renault Filante is a posh SUV with many, many screens
Renault is back with a new large premium car, but it’s not for Europe or the UK
Renault has a plan. In fact, it has christened this plan the ‘2027 International Game Plan’. Sounds like world domination could be on the cards, although really it just refers to a strategy that’ll see Renault invest €3 billion and launch eight new cars for markets outside of Europe in the next couple of years.
One of those new cars is the thing you see above. This is the Renault Filante, and before we start, it shares absolutely nothing in common with the swoopy, jet-engined Étoile Filante prototype of the 1950s, or the bonkers-looking Filante Record 2025 concept that recently set an efficiency record by travelling 626 miles in under 10 hours at an average speed of 63mph. The Record’s slippery shape and fancy tech meant its energy consumption was a mightily impressive 7.97 miles per kWh. The new Filante SUV isn’t even an EV.
Instead, the Filante uses a variation of Renault’s hybrid E-Tech powertrain. That means there’s a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine, two electric motors, a three-speed gearbox and a 1.64kWh battery. Total system output is 247bhp and 417lb ft of torque.
Based on the CMA platform, it’s very nearly 5m long and 1.9 wide, so it’s a fair bit bigger than something like a Skoda Kodiaq. Fairly aggressive design too, with an angry, emblem-obsessed face, 19 or 20in wheels, and a chopped rear end with a coupe-like roofline, contrasting black panels and a proper spoiler.
The Filante will be built at Renault’s Busan plant in South Korea, and it’ll first go on sale over there in March 2026. South America and the Gulf States will apparently follow in early 2027.
The new Renault Filante is a posh SUV with many, many screens
Renault is back with a new large premium car, but it’s not for Europe or the UK
Renault has a plan. In fact, it has christened this plan the ‘2027 International Game Plan’. Sounds like world domination could be on the cards, although really it just refers to a strategy that’ll see Renault invest €3 billion and launch eight new cars for markets outside of Europe in the next couple of years.
One of those new cars is the thing you see above. This is the Renault Filante, and before we start, it shares absolutely nothing in common with the swoopy, jet-engined Étoile Filante prototype of the 1950s, or the bonkers-looking Filante Record 2025 concept that recently set an efficiency record by travelling 626 miles in under 10 hours at an average speed of 63mph. The Record’s slippery shape and fancy tech meant its energy consumption was a mightily impressive 7.97 miles per kWh. The new Filante SUV isn’t even an EV.
Instead, the Filante uses a variation of Renault’s hybrid E-Tech powertrain. That means there’s a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine, two electric motors, a three-speed gearbox and a 1.64kWh battery. Total system output is 247bhp and 417lb ft of torque.
Based on the CMA platform, it’s very nearly 5m long and 1.9 wide, so it’s a fair bit bigger than something like a Skoda Kodiaq. Fairly aggressive design too, with an angry, emblem-obsessed face, 19 or 20in wheels, and a chopped rear end with a coupe-like roofline, contrasting black panels and a proper spoiler.
The Filante will be built at Renault’s Busan plant in South Korea, and it’ll first go on sale over there in March 2026. South America and the Gulf States will apparently follow in early 2027.
