The Renault Austral 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 late 2010s, the segment h ...

(

C-segment The C-segment is the 3rd category of the 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. In 2011, the C- ...

) manufactured and marketed by

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

. It was unveiled in March 2022 as a successor to the Kadjar, and built on the third-generation CMF-CD platform. It was publicly exhibited for the first time at the

2022 Paris Motor Show The 2022 Paris Motor Show (in French ''Mondial de l'automobile de Paris'' or ''Mondial de l'Auto'') is an international auto show, which was held from October 18 to October 23, 2022, at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, in Paris, France. It ...

. Production began in July 2022 in Spain at the Palencia plant. The "Austral" name was derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word "''australis''", and has been trademarked since 2005. An extended version of the SUV that will indirectly replace the

Espace Espace may refer to: * ESPACE, a complexity class in computational complexity theory * Espace musique, a Canadian radio service * Espace 2, a Swiss radio station * Radio Espace, a French radio station *Espace Group, a French media company *Group Es ...

is also planned, with prototypes spotted testing several times throughout 2022.

Overview

The Austral carries the new retro-inspired logo, the LED lights are in Renault's ''C-Shape signature'', while the cockpit is in the form of an entirely digital "L", in order to "surround the driver". A long LED strip joins the logo on either side of the tailgate. The Austral adopts Renault's new design, called ''Sensual Tech''. According to Agneta Dahlgren, Renault design project director, "the result is materialized by the combination of generous shapes, curved shoulders, projecting sides and the integration of subtle technical details such as high-tech headlamps. which reinforce its identity design”. The dashboard of the Austral, called ''OpenR'', is largely inspired by that of the Megane E-Tech Electric, but the layout is slightly revised.

Safety

In autumn 2022, the Renault Austral was tested for

automotive safety Automotive safety is the study and practice of design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions involving motor vehicles. Road traffic safety more broadly includes roadway design ...

Euro NCAP The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven (Belgium) formed in 1996, with the first results released in Februa ...

. It received five stars out of a possible five.

Powertrain

References

External links

Official press release
{{Renault vehicles timeline 1980 to date, Western European and North American market Austral Cars introduced in 2022 Compact sport utility vehicles Crossover sport utility vehicles Front-wheel-drive vehicles Hybrid sport utility vehicles Euro NCAP large MPVs Partial zero-emissions vehicles Vehicles with CVT transmission