Renault Austral: this is what we know so far about the Kadjar's successor

More details about the Renault Austral, the new SUV from Renault arriving in spring to fill the gap in the range left by the Renault Kadjar. Now, after having seen an preview of its interior, and camouflaged prototypes during the testing phase, Renault offers a first sketch of the exterior. We have gathered everything we know about the new Renault Austral to date.

A compact family SUV with a sporty design

With the Renault Arkana in the range as a coupé-style SUV with a sportier cut, the new Austral takes a more practical and family-oriented approach; although that does not mean it gives up a very dynamic image, as these sketches show. Its dimensions, at 4.51 metres long, sit very close to the Arkana, and there is also a sloping rear window and pronounced wheel arches.

In this new instalment with the first sketch, Renault speaks of “unprecedented aerodynamics”, although it gives no details. One of the distinctive features will undoubtedly be the full LED headlights, with a very characteristic C-shaped light signature. The grille integrates the new logo and is crossed by a horizontal chrome line that joins the two headlights.

Among its main rivals are cars such as the new Kia Sportage, the Hyundai Tucson, the Citroën C5 Aircross, the Volkswagen Tiguan or the Nissan Qashqai, with which the Austral shares the platform called CMF-CD3. The new Austral will be manufactured at the Renault factory in Palencia.

Interior of the Renault Austral: very high-tech

The first interior sketches of the Austral reveal a minimalist cabin with a very high-tech look, thanks to the use of the system that Renault calls OpenR, first introduced in the electric Mégane E-TECH. The horizontal lines stand out, as does the absence of classic buttons and the design of the steering wheel, flattened at its top and bottom.

It is characterised by its two screens: the instrument display in the conventional horizontal position, at 12.3 inches, and the 12-inch multimedia system screen in a vertical position, both grouped under a single “L”-shaped structure. Renault announces improvements to the software and menu management, so that any function can be reached in just a few clicks. In addition to natively integrating features such as the navigation and Google search, it offers full compatibility with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Petrol MHEV and HEV engines with ECO label

For now, Renault has revealed that the Austral will feature a new range of engines, reaching outputs of up to 200 CV. There is no news of turbodiesel versions, nor of a plug-in hybrid, at least for the time being.

The entry-level offer will include a 1.3 TCe petrol with mild hybrid MHEV technology of 12 volts, a newly developed 1.2 TCe, in this case with 48-volt MHEV technology, and a E-TECH self-charging hybrid, all of them with the DGT ECO label.

Technical specifications of this car

CrossoverRenault Austral12 versions · from 33,620 €