The Renault Arkana is a

compact crossover SUV Compact crossover SUV is an automobile classification used mainly in North America to describe a segment of crossover SUV, a type of sport utility vehicle, between subcompact crossover SUV and mid-size crossover SUV. By the late 2010s, the segm ...

(

C-segment The C-segment is the 3rd category of the Euro Car Segment, European segments for passenger cars and is described as "medium cars". It is equivalent to the Euro NCAP "small family car" size class, and the compact car category in the United States. ...

) with a sloping rear roofline produced by the French manufacturer

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

. The car debuted in May 2019 in Russia as a car based on the older Dacia/Renault Duster B0 platform. Another separate version of the vehicle was introduced in South Korea in February 2020, and is based on a more advanced CMF-B platform. The latter version of the Arkana was later introduced in core European market in September 2020 and was marketed in South Korea as the Renault Samsung XM3 from 2020 to 2022 and then Renault XM3 from 2022 to 2024. Renault stated the name "Arkana" derives from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''arcanum'', meaning secret.

Concept car

show car A show car, sometimes called a dream car, is a custom-made automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four ...

based on the Arkana, the XM3 Inspire, was introduced by Renault subsidiary

Renault Samsung Motors Renault Korea Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean car manufacturer headquartered in Busan where its single assembly site is also located, with additional facilities at Seoul (administration), Giheung District, Giheung (research and development) and D ...

and unveiled at the 2019

Seoul Motor Show The Seoul Mobility Show () is a biennial auto show held at KINTEX (Korea International Exhibition Center), Goyang, Gyeonggi-do. Hosted by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA), it is recognized as an international show by the Orga ...

. The main differences with the Arkana are a redesigned front grille, a different colour scheme and a revised bodywork.

B0+ (LJC; 2019)

The Arkana debuted in Russia in May 2019. For the Russian market, it is assembled by Renault Russia at its

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

plant and its unveiling took place at the 2018

Moscow International Automobile Salon The Moscow International Automobile Salon or MIAS () was until 2018 the biennial auto show held at Crocus City Mall, Crocus Expo in Moscow, Russia. The show is scheduled by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles, which cons ...

through a near-production showcar. The car has a

coupe A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and typically with two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the Fr ...

-like styling. The Russian Arkana is built on the Renault B0+ platform, a heavily revised variant of the B0 platform used by models such as the Kaptur and the Duster. The Russian model is using the 1.3-litre turbo petrol engine paired with Jatco CVT8 transmission.

Markets

Kazakhstan

Assembly in neighboring

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

began in 2021 at SaryarkaAvtoProm plant (

Kostanay Kostanay or Qostanai (, , rus, Костанай, p=kəstɐˈnaj) is a city located on the Tobol River in northern Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of the Kostanay Region. As of 24 March 2022, the city's governor is Marat Zhundubay ...

), through a partnership between Renault and the Allur Group. LJC models production was prematurely stopped in 2022, following international sanctions against Russia after

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Ukraine

On September 16, 2020, the company announced that it will assemble the model in Ukraine.

CMF-B (LJL; 2020)

The car was launched in South Korea as the Renault Samsung XM3. Instead of riding above the B0 platform like the Russian Arkana, the XM3 uses the modular platform CMF-B and is related to the second-generation

Renault Captur The Renault Captur is a series of subcompact crossover SUVs manufactured by the French automaker Renault. The production version of the first one, based on the B platform, made its debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show and started to be markete ...

. The XM3 is also purely a front-wheel drive car unlike its B0-based counterpart. The CMF-based variant is 25 mm longer than the B0-based Arkana sold in Russia. The South Korean model has two engine option either the 1.3-litre turbo petrol engine with 7-speed EDC gearbox or 1.6-litre petrol engine with Jatco CVT7 transmission. In September 2020, the rebadged version of South Korean-made Samsung XM3 was also launched in Renault markets (outside of CIS) as the Renault Arkana. It is introduced in former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

n countries as the Renault Mégane Conquest, as its original name may be associated with

Arkan Željko Ražnatović (, ; 17 April 1952 – 15 January 2000), better known as Arkan (), was a Serbian warlord, mobster and head of the Serb paramilitary force called the Serb Volunteer Guard during the Yugoslav Wars, considered one of the most f ...

, the late Serbian criminal, politician and paramilitary commander during the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

who was accused of numerous war crimes. The European model is equipped with a

mild hybrid Mild hybrids (MHEV) (also known as smart hybrids, power-assist hybrids, battery-assisted hybrid vehicles or BAHVs) are generally cars with an internal combustion engine (ICE) equipped with a minimally extended battery and an auxiliary electric co ...

1.3-litre turbo petrol engine paired with the 7-speed EDC gearbox. The Renault Arkana arrived in Australia in August 2021. File:Renault Arkana (CMF-B) IMG 5624.jpg, Rear view (pre-facelift) File:Renault_Arkana_(CMF-B)_1X7A7043.jpg, Interior File:00 samsung xm3 1.jpg, Renault Samsung XM3 File:00 samsung xm3 2.jpg, Renault Samsung XM3 File:0 Samsung XM3 FL 1.jpg, Renault Samsung XM3 (sportline front shield)

Facelift

The vehicle received a facelift in July 2023, featuring among other things a new front grille and logo. The facelifted Arkana was also introduced in the GCC countries on 2 September 2024. File:Renault Arkana Mild Hybrid 140 EDC Techno (Facelift) – f 21042025.jpg, Facelift Arkana (front) File:Renault Arkana Mild Hybrid 140 EDC Techno (Facelift) – h 21042025.jpg, Facelift Arkana (rear)

Production

Sales

References

External links

* (Australia) * (UK) * (Korea) * (Korea, Renault Arkana E-Tech Hybrid) {{Renault Samsung timeline Arkana Cars introduced in 2019 2020s cars Compact crossover sport utility vehicles Front-wheel-drive vehicles All-wheel-drive vehicles Hybrid electric cars Plug-in hybrid vehicles Partial zero-emissions vehicles Vehicles with CVT transmission Cars of Russia Cars of South Korea