TEST DRIVE Renault Korea’s Filante set to take on Santa Fe, Sorento

Renault Korea's Filante crossover is diplayed in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of Renault Korea

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — Renault Korea’s new crossover Filante places comfort and refinement at the center of its identity, delivering the quiet and smooth riding experience of a sedan in a fiercely contested midsize SUV segment.

The Filante is the second model under Renault Korea’s Aurora project. The vehicle represents the carmaker’s strategic bet to challenge the dominance of Hyundai Motor’s Santa Fe and Kia’s Sorento.

Combining a sleek coupe-style design with the quietness characteristic of hybrid vehicles, the model seeks to carve out a distinctive niche in a segment largely defined by boxy SUVs.

During a roughly 150-kilometer round-trip media test drive around the historic city of Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the Filante revealed itself as a vehicle balancing two identities — the comfort and composure of a sedan with the practicality of an SUV. Compared with the Aurora project’s first model, the Grand Koleos, the Filante had a more refined overall balance.

Renault Korea CEO Nicolas Paris delivers an opening speech during a media test drive event in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of Renault Korea

The Filante pairs a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with a dual-motor hybrid system. The powertrain proved more than capable on both city streets and highways, delivering brisk acceleration that never felt strained, even during overtaking. Fuel efficiency that hovered around 15 kilometers per liter also stood out as a solid advantage for a vehicle of its size.

Its positioning in the market is somewhat unusual. With a body size approaching that of a large SUV combined with a coupe-like silhouette, the Filante does not easily fit into a conventional category.

In Korea’s midsize and large SUV market — long dominated by the Santa Fe and Sorento — the Filante’s ability to draw buyers away from those established rivals will likely determine its domestic success.

Renault Korea's Filante crossover / Korea Times photo by Lee Min-hyung

The characteristic that left the strongest impression during the nearly three-hour drive was the vehicle’s quietness. Renault Korea emphasized that all trims of the Filante come equipped with active noise cancellation technology.

An advanced eight-speaker sound system, developed by French audio specialist Arkamys, is fitted as standard, while microphones inside the cabin actively monitor and counter engine noise. The result is a level of cabin tranquility that remains noticeable even at highway speeds.

The company’s E-Tech hybrid powertrain also contributes to that sense of refinement. The system combines a 100-kilowatt drive motor and 60-kilowatt starter motor with the 1.5-liter turbo gasoline direct injection engine, producing a total output of 250 horsepower.

Whether winding through Gyeongju’s outskirts or cruising along open highways, the power felt more than sufficient, offering smooth yet confident acceleration.

Renault Korea's Filante crossover / Korea Times photo by Lee Min-hyung

For Renault Korea, the Filante carries significance beyond being just another new model.

The company’s Grand Koleos dramatically reversed Renault Korea’s fortunes after its launch in September 2024, reaching the milestone of 50,000 units sold within just a year. That success marked a major turnaround for the automaker, which had previously struggled with declining sales and fading market presence due to the lack of strategic new models with strong commercial value.

With the Filante, Renault Korea hopes to capture customers seeking something more premium and distinctive than the Grand Koleos while further expanding its sales volume.

Renault Korea's Filante crossover / Korea Times photo by Lee Min-hyung

Even if the Filante is built on the same Compact Modular Architecture platform as the Grand Koleos, Renault Korea underscored that the two vehicles are fundamentally different in concept and tuning.

“The Grand Koleos follows a boxy SUV concept, while the Filante is clearly a crossover,” an official from Renault Korea said during the media drive event.

“To deliver sedan-level ride comfort in an SUV-like vehicle, we had to adjust many aspects of the vehicle’s setup, including body vibration and noise control. That is where we focused the most effort to create differentiation.”

The interior of Renault Korea's Filante crossover / Korea Times photo by Lee Min-hyung

All Filante models will be produced at Renault Korea’s plant in the southeastern port city of Busan. The automaker expects the vehicle’s annual production to reach between 60,000 and 70,000 units.

Key export markets will include Latin America, the Middle East and Central Asia. Europe, however, will not be included in the sales plan due to potential overlap with Renault-branded vehicles already sold in the region, according to Renault Korea.