Renault Austral – Look to the Future

Renault’s alliance partner Nissan has been raising the bar with the Qashqai since 2006, so expectations were high when a Renault brother arrived in 2015 in the form of the Kadjar. Although the Kadjar did not do badly internationally in the years that followed, the sales figures – certainly in the Netherlands – lagged behind those of the Qashqai. In the best year, 2016, just under 4,000 Kadjars rolled out of the showroom. It then quickly collapsed, while the Qashqai held up for years at around 6,000 units, peaking above 7,000. The third-generation Qashqai appeared at the beginning of last year and on its basis Renault is now working on a car that should rectify the difference.

New round, new opportunities and, according to the French, that also requires a new name. The name Austral should give the SUV more ‘international allure’. Nice and nice, but there are more important things with which the Austral should make you forget the Kadjar. To start with the appearance. The Austral neatly follows the current design language of Renault and is clearly a big brother of the Mégane E-Tech Electric presented last year. For example, the sharp-lined LED headlamps with the distinctive ‘boomerang’ shape are visually connected via a chrome strip, interrupted only by the new Renault logo. At the rear, an LED strip, also interrupted by the logo, creates a ‘bridge’ between the light units. The Austral as a whole is also slightly less rounded in shape than the Kadjar, which should give it a more serious appearance. Stronger plastic trim in the bumpers and along the flanks provide a somewhat tougher appearance.

Conventional

It is of course a matter of taste whether the Austral has a better body than its predecessor, but the technology also contributes in any case. Since the Austral with the CMF-C base will be a technical equivalent of the youngest Qashqai, electrification will also be involved from now on. The Kadjar had to make do with only conventional petrol and diesel engines. In any case, count on the arrival of a 1.2 mild hybrid (48V) and a 1.3 mild hybrid (12V) and there will also be a full hybrid variant. Possibly even a plug-in hybrid. Then it will probably be an E-Tech plug-in system, like its little brother Captur has, in which a 1.6 petrol engine is combined with an electric motor. A four-wheel drive Austral may also appear. After all, that option is also available with the Qashqai, with the 158 hp mild-hybrid 1.3 DIG-T. Fully electric drive with a petrol engine as a ‘generator’, which Nissan calls ‘e-Power’, may remain reserved for the Qashqai. This allows Nissan to continue to excel exclusively. Incidentally, there is another important difference between the Austral and the Qashqai, namely the size. The Kadjar was already a bit bigger than the Qashqai of the previous generation, and the Austral is also just a bit bigger than the current Qashqai. At 4.51 meters, it is 8 centimeters longer than the Qashqai and 2 centimeters longer than the Kadjar. So a good boy.

Ariya

You should not expect a purely electric Austral. Because the Austral will eventually be joined by another new Renault SUV that rests on the CMF-EV platform. An all-electric newcomer that can be considered Renault’s equivalent of the Nissan Ariya. For example, the choice remains huge at Renault and the more conventionally minded customer can go to the Austral, and those who prefer fully electric driving can go for the (probably slightly sturdier) brother. For the time being, it’s just a matter of biting your nails for those who are eagerly waiting for the Austral. Sometime in the coming spring, Renault will pull the curtain on the Austral. Logically, a market introduction will only follow in the second half of 2022. We do not expect its electric brother until next year.