These are the first pictures of Renault’s new Laguna, which goes on sale in the UK in October to meet the challenge of the Ford Mondeo and Volkswagen Passat.

Available as a hatchback and Sport Tourer estate, the Laguna will come with a choice of three diesel engines and two petrol units, all of which already meet Euro V emission levels. The dCi diesels consist of 2.0-litre units in 130bhp and 150bhp outputs, and an all-new 1.5 dCi with 110bhp and the promise of C02 emissions of 136g/km with claimed combined fuel economy of 55.4mpg.

The petrols will be a 2.0-litre unit with 140bhp and a turbocharged range-topper with 175bhp for the sporty models. All models come with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard, with a six-speed automatic unit available with certain engines.

Unusually for a new car, the new Laguna weighs 15kg less than the model it replaces while also being larger (1mm longer, 12mm taller) offering more room inside.

Tough targets for new Laguna

Renault has set itself a tough target with the arrival of the Laguna III, aiming to banish the old model’s reputation for poor quality when the new version makes its world debut later this year.

Due to be revealed at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show before going on sale in the UK in October, the new Laguna will be going up against Ford’s all-new Mondeo and the Volkswagen Passat in the crucial upper-medium sector. Quality and build issues have blighted the Laguna name but Renault claims the new version will be “among the top three in its segment” in terms of product and service quality.

Renault hasn’t set sales targets for the new model, but it will certainly be hoping to beat last year’s total of 7,500 units. Of this number, fleets accounted for around 70% of sales.

Keith Hawes, director, fleet and commercial vehicle sales, at Renault UK, said: “As well as a benchmark in quality, new Laguna will also offer very strong driving dynamics and a new range of engines, one of which – the 1.5 dCi – will be a class leader offering very low benefit-in-kind tax bills and SMR costs as well as high fuel economy.”

Mr Hawes has already begun discussions with the residual value and wholelife costs guides, and is preparing to take key fleet customers out to drive the car later in the summer. He will be hoping to massively improve residuals over the current model, which sit at between 22% and 27% after three years/60,000 miles.

Laguna website