The Renault Austral has been unveiled today. It gets a posh interior, mild and full-hybrid engines, new autonomous driving tech and the option to fit rear-wheel steering.
The new C segment SUV is an alternative to models like the Volkswagen Tiguan, Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson.
The styling is handsome if unadventurous, although fancy diamond-cut front headlights and micro-optic rear LEDs add sparkle. You get up to eight colour finishes to choose from, although the Alpine Esprit model is only one available with the Satin Grey Shale you see here. The Austral comes with alloy wheels ranging from 17-20 inches in size.
While the exterior plays it relatively safe, you'll find big changes in the interior, which comes loaded with tech and fancy finishes.
Inside, you'll find a 12.3-inch digital instrument binnacle, which is paired with a 12-inch centre screen – the infotainment is powered by Google so you can expect it to operate slickly and to have eerily accurate voice recognition. You can back up the conventional screens with a big, 9.3-inch head-up display.
Posh materials, meanwhile, take the form of real wood, Alcantara and padded textiles with glossy black and chrome highlights. The whole lot is backlit by ambient interior lighting.
It's spacious, too. Renault is claiming best-in-class rear seat knee room of 27.4cm and the back seat can slide backwards and forwards on 16cm runners. The boot has a 500-litre capacity, which extends to 1525 litres with the back seats folded (they fold up and down individually). You also get 35 litres of interior storage for smaller items.
The Renault Austral comes with a choice of four petrol engines which is headed up by the 200PS E-Tech hybrid. It uses a combination of a 1.2-three-cylinder petrol engine and a 1.7kWh battery to run on electricity for short periods, allowing for impressive fuel economy of up to 61.4mpg and low CO2 emissions of 105g/km.
The 130PS 48V mild-hybrid model – also a 1.2-litre three-cylinder – returns 53.3mpg and CO2 emissions of 123g/km. Meanwhile, the 1.3-litre four-cylinder model can be had as a six-speed manual with 140PS or as a 160PS version with a CVT automatic. It will return fuel economy of up to 45.5mpg.
Along with the new hybrid engines, you get Level 2 autonomous driving aids with active cruise control and lane-keep assist, which mean the car can operate the accelerator, brakes and steering autonomously (so long as you keep your hands on the steering wheel) on motorways and A-roads.
The Renault Austral has yet to be confirmed for UK production – Renault's worried it will step on the toes of the new Megane E-Tech – however, you can expect it to be priced from £25,000 if it gets the green light for UK sale.
