Design review Renault Austral: ‘deliberately more generic and more conservative than the Megane E-tech’

The symbolism of the life cycle – more about this in this design review about the Megane E-Tech – gave Renault a fresh character a few years ago. An emotional design DNA and a new fitting spectrum of shapes was developed by Renault Design, which allowed the brand to be identified at a glance.

The design turnaround that Renault design boss Laurens van den Acker initiated almost ten years ago.

Concept cars excellently translated into production models

The series of extremely well-executed portfolio-wide concept cars resulting from that philosophy also turned out to be excellently translatable to production models. With good result: Renault sold cars again!

After the first cycle of models designed under the new philosophy, a second batch followed, with the recent addition of the successful Megane E-Tech. The task of the all-new Renault Austral is to create an even larger market share in the C-segment for the French. The Arkana and the Megane E-Tech are also classified in that segment. The brand is clearly serious in their desire and approach to dominate that segment.

Austral: quintessential SUV features with sensual tech

The Austral combines typical proportional SUV features with Renault’s ‘sensual tech’ design principles. The car has the soft, sensual shapes of, for example, the Clio, Mégane and Talisman, but – similar to the Megane E-Tech – it has also become irrefutably harder in its surfacing than that earlier series of Renaults: voluptuousness combined with pronounced geometric elements.

The Van den Acker design team has drawn large wheels under the car, although these are significantly less present than the ones under the Megane E-Tech. The Austral stands well on its feet – but the design is not really pronounced.

Closer we see subtle sculpture in the skin that, despite being clearly related to the Megane E-Tech, is less explicitly concave and convex. The element that is optionally copper-coloured in the Megane E-Tech bumper is also present in the Austral. A special choice, because this element had the potential to put the electric Renault models on the map with a unique graphic expression. The distinctive character of the graphic is thus undermined.

LED lighting and diamond-shaped patterns

The structural details, such as the LED lighting and the diamond-shaped patterns in the grille, are worth mentioning. The headlights have small vertical elements that return in the grille. Well found, correctly executed, but here too the design volume is soft.

Chrome or black window frame

The flank is undeniably the most generic part of this new Renault design. The sculptural qualities are consistent, but not very distinctive. The light catcher in the sill reduces the visual height and, in conjunction with the horizontal surfaces above the two wheel arches, creates a lot of extra horizontality. On top of the rear shoulder we find the typical graphic solution of the window frame – depending on the trim level in chrome or black – which was also introduced as a design theme by the Megane E-Tech.

Austral clear evolution design language

The Austral is clearly an evolution of the design language that Van den Acker introduced earlier. The car thematically leans heavily on the Megane E-Tech. Although the exterior design of the Austral is more generic and significantly less athletic and elegant compared to the Megane E-Tech, the design is refined. Undoubtedly, the somewhat more timid disposition is a strategic design choice. After all, for the somewhat more conservative customer, the Austral is an excellent option and therefore a valuable addition to the Renault model portfolio.